Author Topic: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!  (Read 39143 times)

Offline pirovash88

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #60 on: November 26, 2014, 12:24:54 pm »
I agree with Gone Girl getting as much cred as it is. The movie was fantastic and a definite buy for me when it's released on Bluray.

Also, i watched Birdman this weekend at an indie theater in town. It was really strange, but good at the same time. Easily Micheal Keaton's best film to date. The cast of actors were great too.
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Offline Nathan Dunsmore

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #61 on: November 26, 2014, 04:48:01 pm »
Well, i certainly recommend it. Godzilla, Snowpiercer, and Boyhood are the best movies of the Summer imo.

Snowpiercer is on Roku so I might check that one out.
« Last Edit: November 26, 2014, 07:08:30 pm by Nathan Dunsmore »

Offline pirovash88

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #62 on: November 26, 2014, 05:48:03 pm »
Snowpiercer is on Roku so might check that one out.

Do it! I'd like to hear your impressions after you watch it. Seems to get a mixed reaction from people.
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Offline inthesky

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #63 on: November 27, 2014, 12:51:50 pm »
I agree with Gone Girl getting as much cred as it is. The movie was fantastic and a definite buy for me when it's released on Bluray.

Also, i watched Birdman this weekend at an indie theater in town. It was really strange, but good at the same time. Easily Micheal Keaton's best film to date. The cast of actors were great too.

Holy crap I just found out that one of the smaller theaters nearby where I live is still running Birdman.

This is the best day of my life. I missed out on its initial wide release.
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Offline Aki-at

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #64 on: November 27, 2014, 01:38:08 pm »
Well, i certainly recommend it. Godzilla, Snowpiercer, and Boyhood are the best movies of the Summer imo.

Godzilla, Snowpiercer, and Boyhood are the best movies of the Summer imo.

Godzilla and Boyhood are the best movies of the Summer

Godzilla the best movies of the Summer

This man... THIS MAN! He is a GOOD man.

Offline pirovash88

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #65 on: November 27, 2014, 04:25:57 pm »
Hahah bought Godzilla on bluray day 1, fucking loved that movie!

A kudos would be appreciated =)

In the sky, curious to know what you think of Birdman, it's a crazy film.
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Offline Barry the Nomad

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #66 on: December 01, 2014, 09:05:14 am »
Godzilla blu was super cheap on Amazon's Black Friday sale - shame I already own it. Should have bought another for a friend! Oh well... picked up Pacific Rim for $4. Lego Movie sold out in 1 second, it was crazy!

Offline pirovash88

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #67 on: December 01, 2014, 11:47:15 pm »
I missed those sales, had you gotten another I would've bought it from you Barry.. =(
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Offline inthesky

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #68 on: December 04, 2014, 01:25:34 pm »
I saw Birdman. It was pretty good. I love the use of long takes, and it was an ambitious movie with a lot to say. Michael Keaton is an obvious standout, and showing off multiple runs of the play, all which have believable reasons to be different, were an excellent way to punctuate the developments of the plot and Thomson's thoughts IMO.

In some areas it just fell flat to me. I think about halfway through the movie or in the last third none of the characters besides Thomson really matter. It's an interesting reflection on his (arguably) his narcissism  but it wasn't really handled well and I don't understand what it's trying to convey. I mean ostensibly you could say that Thomson just embraced who he was, which is important  because the play was called "what we talk about when we talk about love" or w/e and the opinions of some people matter to him a lot. because but he has been kinda self-absorbed since the beginning of the movie (refinancing the house, not really paying attention to his girlfriend etc.) The other thing I don't like is that all of these subplots don't really get a lot of attention or a chance to develop. Like the lesbian relationship, Keaton's relationship with his girlfriend, Edward Norton and Emma Stone. Like they were OK as is but could've been better with just a bit more screentime.

The movie made a lot of comments about the modern condition and social media, celebrity, big action movies (that dancing sequence after the final performance of the play was stupid and really pretentious =D), what it's like to be an an actor, critics. It had a lot to say which is difficult to pull off in one movie. I kinda don't know what the takeaway is once everything is said and done but I respect how ambitious it was. That's what I'll say about the movie, ambitious and a bit messy but pretty passionate. I could go on but I'll just leave this alone.

It's worth a watch still yet IMO, for sure. it's an experience

I wonder if the casting of Michael Keaton (formerly Batman in like the early 90s or something) was intentional. It's extremely meta =P but kinda funny. What wasn't funny was the Macbeth quote towards the end ("it is a tale told by an idiot...") nice going folks, no subtlety

edit: I have to add that the ending was an absolute roller coaster. I thought it would be lame, but in hindsight it was actually pretty cool. I can't really have a good discussion about it without spoilers so spoilers ahead:

so first, it was pretty apparent that he was going to shoot himself, and of course Edward Norton complaining about the gun is the perfect lead in to Michael Keaton shooting himself. it's perfect, considering the release of him shooting himself matches the release he feels as he embraces Birdman, which is shown in his inner peace during the play.

May I add first that Edward Norton's character, short lived as it was (not literally), was awesome. His conception of art is so detached and utilitarian, objective. It contrasts with Keaton, who is similarly motivated by ego but more concerned about being respected by the public and general purveyors of art. They really are similar characters except Norton moves in a straight line all of the time. Norton apparently doesn't care about sleeping with Keaton's daughter (this is probably fairly common in Broadway and any other highly internal industry) And of course, his unresolvable conundrum with the concept of art and acting. He wants things to feel more real, he wants to be more real in his performances, but being real up to a point isn't acting - it's just being. Anyone know the relationship between the words "art" and "artificial"?

Anyway, I was really dreading the concept of him shooting himself. It sounded like a stupid, predictable idea and I expected the movie to glorify Keaton and be done with it. But right as he shot himself my mindset completely changed. Did he intend to kill himself? If I can reasonably assume that Keaton's character doesn't typically use guns, I would also be able to speculate that perhaps that particular weapon may have had some recoil that he wouldn't be used to, and that the nose being shot off was accidental. Because if he didn't intend to kill himself, that makes Keaton cynical in a very disturbing but cool (for the purposes of the movie) way.

It's like he came to accept what he considered was the depravity of modern society and his tenuous relationship with social media blah blah. The depravity is highlighted by the people clapping (yawn) when he shoots himself, Birdman mocking people in their dialogues and Keaton destroying stuff in the City with SWAT people and explosions and stuff, and of course being made a spectacle of when he was running to the front entrance of the theatre in his underwear. The poor guy wasn't looking for the attention but he sucked it up and just went for it, and continued the play. It's like he embraced what the movie argued was a very modern path to fame - extremely dramatic/attention grabbing stuff and instant gratification on behalf of the viewer (measured in high youtube views.)

Anyway I love the hospital scene. The wife, it has to be known, was a great character when she was around. She insisted on keeping him honest even if it didn't necessarily mean things went her way. Edward Norton is of course blunt but caught up in himself, Emma Stone spends the better part of the movie retaliating against Thing or Whatever. Of course the gauze setup is reminiscent of Birdman. But the trippy thing is, when he takes it off, of course Keaton looks like a different person entirely. It mirrors his change as a person. The other amazing thing is I feel like the laying of the lilac bunch on the hospital bed is analogous to laying flowers on someone's grave.

The final shot of the movie, I was like "what the hell is this" but still a pretty good ending overall.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2014, 09:45:55 pm by inthesky »
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Offline pirovash88

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #69 on: December 04, 2014, 11:45:01 pm »
I like your impressions, dude. Don't wanna reveal much myself, but I can agree it was really trippy and confusing, haha. I will say that I never quite understood if a lot of it was actually going on or if he was just dreaming or something, it was so strange, but good at the same time.
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Offline inthesky

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #70 on: December 05, 2014, 02:41:51 pm »
That's the kind of cool thing about the movie IMO. Like, yeah you had this crazy stuff happening, and sometimes you couldn't tell if it was real or delusion (and sometimes it was real and sometimes it was delusion), but in the end it didn't matter. Or like it didn't change much whether or not you like the movie or the main plot IMO.

I kinda relate it to how some people experience art I guess. What might seem surreal or crazy will sometimes just be taken at face value and accepted as reality.
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Offline Sharky

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #71 on: December 05, 2014, 07:41:50 pm »
Best films this year for me were The Grand Budapest Hotel, Boyhood and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

I also really enjoyed Godzilla, Gone Girl and Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For.

I haven't seen yet but I'm sure I will like, The Hobbit:TBoFA and How to Train your Dragon 2.

Oh and I thought the Lego Movie was absolute nonsense, didn't even get half way through it. Humour felt forced at best and plain dumb at worst. I guess I have turned into a miserable bitch.
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Offline Nathan Dunsmore

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #72 on: December 06, 2014, 02:08:34 am »
Oh and I thought the Lego Movie was absolute nonsense, didn't even get half way through it. Humour felt forced at best and plain dumb at worst. I guess I have turned into a miserable bitch.

I'm actually right with you on that one. It was all punch line and characters joking themselves (Batman). I also found the villain, Bad cop, to be really annoying and the ending dragged on way too long.

Offline pirovash88

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #73 on: December 07, 2014, 04:24:19 am »
That's the kind of cool thing about the movie IMO. Like, yeah you had this crazy stuff happening, and sometimes you couldn't tell if it was real or delusion (and sometimes it was real and sometimes it was delusion), but in the end it didn't matter. Or like it didn't change much whether or not you like the movie or the main plot IMO.

I kinda relate it to how some people experience art I guess. What might seem surreal or crazy will sometimes just be taken at face value and accepted as reality.

Yeah, definitely something I could appreciate. No doubt that I will be buying this when it's released, I want to show this to friends that don't want to go out and see it.

I also watch Interstellar in Imax... Seriously... It was pretty incredible. Had anyone else seen it?
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Offline Nathan Dunsmore

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Re: The films of 2014: The King is back, Apes Rise and Enemies Unite!
« Reply #74 on: December 17, 2014, 08:33:56 pm »
As some of you may have heard, Sony pulled the release of The Interview this week. It was originally scheduled to come out on Christmas Day, but now they currently have no plans to release it at all.

The movie poster is soaring well over 100 dollars now on ebay.

Pretty bizarre. Closest example I can think of is The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2008). Wish I had boughten the poster for that film when the local theatre was selling it for 5 a couple years ago...
« Last Edit: December 18, 2014, 01:51:13 am by Nathan Dunsmore »