Amph At The Movies (film discussion thread)

On today's episode of AMC Movie Talk:

AMC Movie Talk - Jesse Eisenberg Talks Lex Luthor for BATMAN V SUPERMAN, Weekend Box Office

 

I mean specifically in terms of the critical response. It was always going to make serious bank, but the review embargo made me think the critics would hate it. But it's got an average 6.7 out of 10 on RT, which is right on the cusp of 2 1/2 to 3 stars. The three star category is 6.7 to 7.7, so just barely above 2 1/2 stars. Which is okay, not good particularly.

 

Today's episode of AMC Movie Talk

AMC Movie Talk - Tom Holland Has Been Cast As SPIDER-MAN, Composer James Horner Passes Away

 

Sad about James Horner. So many great scores, and no doubt he'll always be known for Star Trek 2, Braveheart, and Titantic.

Still, Land Before Time is probably the score that gets to me most.

 

Aliens! That whole "BAH! BAH! BAH BAH!" music is grand.

 

Today's episode of AMC Movie Talk

AMC Movie Talk - The Rock To Star In Live Action RAMPAGE Movie, Legendary Pictures At Comic Con

 

Today's episode of AMC Movie Talk:

AMC Movie Talk - Ava DuVernay Possibly Directing BLACK PANTHER? UNCHARTED Movie Loses Director

 

Today's AMC Movie Talk:

AMC Movie Talk - STAR TREK 3 Begins Shooting, First Full LEGEND trailer

 

So, I kinda wanted to muse a bit on just how many movies there are in theaters here that I need to see. I still haven't caught up with Inside Out or Jurassic World; then there's Love & Mercy, the amazingly cast Brian Wilson movie & I'll See You in My Dreams, a Blythe Danner vehicle getting surprisingly good reviews. Tonight, three movies opened at our local arthouse: The Wolfpack, a documentary about a family of brothers who were essentially held captive in their apartment by their father for most of their lives; The Overnight, a cringe/sex comedy with Jason Schwartzman, Taylor Schilling & Adam Scott; & I Am Big Bird, the documentary about Carroll Spinney, the dude who's played Big Bird & Oscar the Grouch for over forty years. Monday, the arthouse is doing a special screening of The Buddy Holly Story with Gary Busey, a movie I haven't seen in years, but absolutely love. On Wednesday? Arthouse opens Me & Earl & the Dying Girl, a comedy/drama about cancer that's been getting absolute raves from critics and festival audiences alike.

Yes, I want to actually go see all of those. Holy ****. This is going to take some work.

 

How is "Jurassic World" on a need to see list? Et tu, Rogue1/5?

 

I can't have one blockbuster? For like every ten tiny art-house movies?

 

You could just watch Fury Road again.

 

I rewatched Interstellar, and continued to love it. I don't understand why it seemed to land with such a thud. It's unbelievably gorgeous, McConaughey is absolutely fantastic, and it's a wonderfully human take on 2001esque sci-fi. I think it's also a really big step for Nolan. He's pushing himself out of the crime thriller/action genre he's inhabited up to now and stretching for a bit more of a solemn, if still suspenseful, drama.

 

I already rewatched it once. Not that a third viewing is out of the question.

 

Last night, I went to see a double feature of "Inside Out" and "Tomorrowland". I thought they both turned out well. I went to see them at Shankweiler's Drive-In in Orefield, PA, out past Allentown. I understand it's the oldest still-functioning drive-in in the U.S., and I liked it a lot. I'd never been there before; I usually go to Becky's Drive-In in Walnutport, PA, out past Easton. And, when I'm on vacation, I'll go to the Circle Drive-In on Rt. 6 near Scranton, PA. It's kind of a long drive for the first two, but it's a bargain (less than $10 for a double feature) and I enjoy the experience.

So, how many of you go to drive-in movies regularly (or, indeed, ever)?

 

I saw Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Utterly wretched. People actually like this ****?

 

There's an operating drive-in pretty close here in Tulsa; I've been there once. I would recommend people go. Once. I mean, it's a unique cultural experience, everybody kind of chilling outside their cars and people playing frisbee and stuff while waiting for the movie to start. But it's not something I could do regularly because I feel that the experience of the movie itself is muted by all the distractions. I mean, the drive-in atmosphere is cool, but I go to the movies to watch movies, not have a cool experience of people playing frisbee and such. It's a cultural experience, for sure, but the more of a cinephile you actually are, the less I think you'll actually like it.

Is that your first of Kevin Smith's View Askiewniverse movies, I Are The Internets? It is really pretty terrible. I love the Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season scenes, but beyond that, I do find this to be nearly unwatchable. But Clerks, Chasing Amy & Dogma are all really great movies; try those if you haven't. Don't judge Smith's oeuvre just based on J&SBSB.

 

Jay & Bob is one of my favs from Kevin Smith because it's a goddamned cartoon. His stuff always kind of trends towards being a goddamned cartoon but this goes overboard into it and I dig how mouthermouted idiotic it is ("No, sir. A 10-82 is disappearing a dead hooker from Ben Affleck's trailer." "Oh, that Affleck.") . He was working on the Clerks cartoon at the same time and it has a similar vibe.

Oddly, the actual Jay & Silent Bob Super Groovy Cartoon movie which WAS a cartoon is pretty lame. The comic it was based on is better.

 

Kids going to see Inside Out are shown Insidious: Chapter Three instead.

Whoops!

 

That happens a lot and it's typically some dumbass employee that wants to be funny and I have to say that I'm not a parent, but if I was and that happened, I would be ******* incensed. I forget what kid's movie it was, but a few years ago, a group of kids got shown an incredibly horrifying scene of extreme violence from The Hills Have Eyes 2. I'm sorry, but that **** can traumatize a kid. Like seriously. Yeah, I'd be very pissed.

And I'm pretty sure it was a Frozen screening where some jackass played a sex scene from Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac. If you know Lars Von Trier, you know that wasn't tasteful caressing under the sheets. As memory serves, it showed full on penetration. And that was a guy who was just being "funny;" he got fired, I'm sure. I mean, that's just horrible.

 

Today's episode of AMC Movie Talk:

AMC Movie Talk - New SPIDER-MAN Movie To Be John Hughes Influenced? Weekend Box Office Report

 

On he subject of directors being blamed for problems in the script.....The script of a movie is an odd thing. Usually when I see a review of a movie speak about how bad the script is I raise an eyebrow. The script is the story, but the telling of the story comes down to a director. So yes, I think a lot of the time, not all the time, the director does bear a lot of the responsibility for how the story is told.

There have been great scripts turned into really bad movies. There have been good scripts, directed well, but edited into bad movies. There have been bad scripts turned into great movies. Think of a really bad movie or a really good movie, and more than likely there's a good and bad version of it out there.

Alex Garland wrote Dredd and he also edited it. IT was his story, directed by someone else, but put together by him.

 

No Back To The Future reboot

 

Great points. To use a sport analogy, I often think of directors as coaches, where they have to get the best out of the material they're working with; whether it be actors or scripts.

I'm glad to hear that Zemeckis has the rights to the franchise and there will be no reboots as long as he's alive. I can't imagine anyone else as Marty McFly or Doc Brown.

 

Today's episode of AMC Movie Talk:

AMC Movie Talk - SANDMAN Moving To New Line Cinema, Del Toro No Longer On JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK