Movies

DJSJ said:
I watched Stalker (1979) last night

Tarkovsky has always been a major gap in my film viewing (I saw Solaris about a decade ago but was pretty stoned at the time and dont remember much) and the more I'd hear about the plot of Stalker the more intrigued I'd be. I was so goddamn disappointed. The film tackles such interesting themes but presents them in such a boring way it makes it an absolute chore to watch. I know the film is based on a novel, and it seems like it'd suceed so much more in the written form, where you can extrapolate your own images and pay more attention to the monologues that are being presented. As a film, using all the tools a filmmaker has to expand upon that basic text, it fails. The first and last shot of the film are extremely interesting and gripping, but what comes inbetween is so slow, tedious, and dare I say lazy? The camera movement is so uninspired, the shots are so long (which wouldn't be a problem if there was actually something interesting to look at), the Waiting for Godot-esque monologue's become monotonous very quickly, and all together it feels like opportunity squandered. Again, the themes itself are so interesting it makes it really sad to come to this conclusion, but after about an hour of this I had to force myself to finish it.

Very disappointed.
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I loved Stalker, but I can understand your frustrations. It's decently faithful to the novel, Roadside Picnic, which is more a contemplation on what happens after Earth plays an unwitting host to extraterrestrials who merely use it as a stopover. How is humanity affected by it? What sorts of occupations of necessity arise out of nearby communities ravaged by the corrupted zone? It's supposed to be obtuse in a way, and Tarkovsky does that well.

I preferred his Solaris, which is also based on an obtusely thematic book. Very "Silent Hill" but in space (the games not the movies).

TenderLovingKiller® said:
Never seen The Stalker but from what I understand the Novel/Film Annihilation was heavily influenced by The Stalker and I really enjoyed Annihilation.
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Very this! Roadside Picnic is a heavily clockable influence on Annihilation, and Garland did a fantastic job adapting it to screen given how nondescript so much of the book was (cosmic horror done well!).
 
ayayrawn said:
The reviews for the Super Mario Bros movie are not good, and honestly about what I expect from an Illumination product. There are apparently four pop needle drops in this thing. This animation studio is a scourge.
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Mario games are fun (paper Mario excluded the story for each game is more or less an obligation). Not surprised the reviews aren’t fantastic bc there isn’t a new original story or charm and heart strings. I’m expecting a typical Mario game type movie origin with lore thrown in a blender. Visually looks fantastic.
 
I’m not really expecting Mario to be a great film, but as a fan of the games I’m just excited to see something that looks like it matches the style neatly. It looks light and fun and kinda beautiful, but nothing groundbreaking. I mean tbh it looks a billion times better than Sonic which I couldn’t even finish.
 
Melt Face Molly Drop said:
Basically just imagine Mario and Peach dancing to Shut Up and Dance With me
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Ah, Like those Trolls movies or Sing or Shrek? I don’t watch many kids movie since I don’t have kids, didn’t realize this had a name. I also don’t think I had realized this was a trend in kids movie but it makes sense to some extent. Instead of original songs becoming popular because of movies, they now use pop songs to promote kids movies. It does feel like an easy way to score cheap points with an audience that doesn’t rely on actually creating a good film.
 
Bennnnn said:
I’m not really expecting Mario to be a great film, but as a fan of the games I’m just excited to see something that looks like it matches the style neatly. It looks light and fun and kinda beautiful, but nothing groundbreaking. I mean tbh it looks a billion times better than Sonic which I couldn’t even finish.
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Good or bad at least we will always have The Super Mario Bros. Super Show.

Including the very special episode where Princess Toadstool meets her favorite musical act Milli Vanilli…
 
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