Movies

Bennnnn said:
Still haven't seen The Hateful Eight. Just sounded kind of like a chore to watch, so I never did.
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I put it off for a while too thinking the same but I was wrong. I actually found it to be enjoyable despite my lower ranking — not a chore at all. The length may be long, but it has a very theatrical feel to it, so it doesn't feel overstuffed. Think more Glengarry Glen Ross than Kill Bill.

I still love his old films but I agree with the lack of interest as of late. Hateful Eight, Django and Hollywood all felt like a big step down for me. Honestly I think it's mostly a visual aesthetic thing. He's stated that he wants to keep writing after retiring, possibly for the stage, and IMO you can tell his heart is there more than the visuals, which have all seemed a little boilerplate to my taste in his 2010s work. Since that's half of what I love about his films I've been a lot less invested in these new worlds as a result.
 
dhodo said:
Interesting. I wonder how the Tarantino XX differs. I think one of the reasons I didn't like Death Proof much is because I saw it as the double feature with Planet Terror. Obviously it has been a long time, so I'm not sure 100% on my memory of it, but after the batshit crazy silliness that was Planet Terror and already being in the theater for over two hours, the incredibly long meaningless dialogue just seemed to drag and drag. Don't get me wrong, I know Tarantino loves making great non-plot related dialogue scenes, but nothing stood out to me like his other movies.

Perhaps I should give it a chance again out of the context of the whole grindhouse thing where I know what to expect.
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The XX set is actually just clones of all the available on market BR discs with new art and two exclusive bonus discs. Sadly this means you get the horrible Reservoir Dogs transfer and the slightly less horrible Pulp Fiction one. The Death Proof edit is just the standalone disc which is a longer extended / unrated cut from what was put in the Grindhouse movie. There's a nerdy breakdown here.

I might be taking the marketing hype of XX too seriously but it was promoted as QT's approved filmography, so I would guess he views Death Proof Extended as his final say on that film. Strangely enough there's also a copy of True Romance as the first disc in that set, so who knows lol.
 
zombie.modernist said:
I put it off for a while too thinking the same but I was wrong. I actually found it to be enjoyable despite my lower ranking — not a chore at all. The length may be long, but it has a very theatrical feel to it, so it doesn't feel overstuffed. Think more Glengarry Glen Ross than Kill Bill.

I still love his old films but I agree with the lack of interest as of late. Hateful Eight, Django and Hollywood all felt like a big step down for me. Honestly I think it's mostly a visual aesthetic thing. He's stated that he wants to keep writing after retiring, possibly for the stage, and IMO you can tell his heart is there more than the visuals, which have all seemed a little boilerplate to my taste in his 2010s work. Since that's half of what I love about his films I've been a lot less invested in these new worlds as a result.
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Agreed! Tension builds & builds &builds. Also, lots more great actors chewing scenery. Love me some Walt Groggins, Kurt Russell, Sam Jackson in bad MF’er mode and the incomparable Bruce Dern. It is not his best but it is still a damn fine movie.
 
zombie.modernist said:
I put it off for a while too thinking the same but I was wrong. I actually found it to be enjoyable despite my lower ranking — not a chore at all. The length may be long, but it has a very theatrical feel to it, so it doesn't feel overstuffed. Think more Glengarry Glen Ross than Kill Bill.

I still love his old films but I agree with the lack of interest as of late. Hateful Eight, Django and Hollywood all felt like a big step down for me. Honestly I think it's mostly a visual aesthetic thing. He's stated that he wants to keep writing after retiring, possibly for the stage, and IMO you can tell his heart is there more than the visuals, which have all seemed a little boilerplate to my taste in his 2010s work. Since that's half of what I love about his films I've been a lot less invested in these new worlds as a result.
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I’ll get to it eventually.

But I’ve been saying that for years now
 
1. Reservoir Dogs
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Kill Bill 1 & 2
4. Hateful Eight
5. Django
6. Inglorious Basterds
7. Jackie Brown
8. Once Upon
9. Death Proof

In Europe I think we never saw the original cut for Death Proof, only the extended one as a stand alone movie. So I think the pacing is a bit off with this one.

I might be one of the only lovers of Hateful 8, but man I love that movie, the tension, the dialogs, the acting, it's really fun.
 
With Parasite's SAG win, it's look ever closer to being the first foreign film to win best picture. We'll have an even better idea when the DGAs and WGAs announce, but it's truly between Parasite, 1917, and OUaTiH. I'd be fine with OUaTiH winning (much less so 1917), but Parasite is the superior and most deserving of the three.
 
ayayrawn said:
With Parasite's SAG win, it's look ever closer to being the first foreign film to win best picture. We'll have an even better idea when the DGAs and WGAs announce, but it's truly between Parasite, 1917, and OUaTiH. I'd be fine with OUaTiH winning (much less so 1917), but Parasite is the superior and most deserving of the three.
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Completely agree. I could see them giving it to Tarantino though as a bit of a make up for awarding Best Picture to Forrest Gump instead of Pulp Fiction. Also, there is nothing Hollywood loves more than movies about itself, but I hope they do the right thing and go with Parasite.
 
I'd love to eat my hat and see Parasite win BP, but I think Bong's got a better shot at Best Director, and the film is a shoo-in for Foreign Picture. I don't see it taking the gold from 1917 or Hollywood. Part of the issue is that it's sort of dammed to that Foreign Picture category, since none of the other competitors are in it, and I'm not sure if the SAG win says much since the Oscars figured it was worth ignoring for acting. The LA Times wrote a nice piece on the acting in the film, which is a nice quick read / inditement of what the Oscars missed. I'm a bit surprised still that SKH didn't get the nod, even if this isn't his biggest role he's been well known to western audiences for a really long time and hasn't gotten his due.
 
Rahawk2 said:
Off to see this wacky Nic Cage movie by the guy who did Hardware. All I know is a meteor hits and Nic screams at a purple color. That’s pretty much all I need to know.
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It's an interesting H P Lovecraft short, for sure. I've seen one other indie film adaptation of it. Wasn't very good. It's so difficult to convey cosmic horror, but I hope to catch this new adaptation this weekend/next week! The style alone is appealing.
 
Rahawk2 said:
Off to see this wacky Nic Cage movie by the guy who did Hardware. All I know is a meteor hits and Nic screams at a purple color. That’s pretty much all I need to know.
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Saw this last night too with a free Regal ticket. Strangely they didn't advertise it as a special engagement which it was — no trailers and a taped q&a with Patton Oswalt after the film. Definitely fun for those who like elevated B-movies, he screams about alpacas a lot.

I grew up in Rhode Island, and as a result I was super into Lovecraft as a teen. Color Out of Space was easily a top 3 of his as far as I'm concerned, but this adaptation sort of treats it as a bad acid trip. Honestly, I'm down with this, Lovecraft's paranoia is rooted in xenophobia, and Stanley's late-night horror flick twist seems like the right move for this particular story. The whole thing is a bit of a mess at times, never fully depending into camp, or trying to play it straight, but settles in by the climax.

As @EvanBenner mentions lots of the Lovecraft adaptations are crappy "indie" fan films, and this certainly felt better if less Lovecraftian.
My favorite recent Lovecraftian films remain Alex Garland's Annihilation which borrows the premise of this story, and The Endless which really punches above its budget to capture the Cthulhu vibe. This feels like a sleazier take on Carpenter's The Thing which isn't bad!
 
I know this isn't a movie, but that opening episode of Picard was really freaking good. Like, fantastic good. And I'm not a big Star Trek guy, but by god's Patrick Stewart is just wonderful.
 
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