What films have you been watching? (XII/IB) - CFC's Dirty Dozen

[hobbsyoyo]

Yeah I thought @Lexicus had seen it - and I was legit surprised he beat me to the box office.

In any case, no this is not a civil rights movie. Yes, it faithfully portrays the fervent nationalism that drove the entire moon program because that's what happened. At the same time it also explicitly does not pretend that Apollo existed in a void - they go out of their way to point out that Apollo did ****-all to help PoC.

I do have to walk back my comments on Apollo not helping the poor - an implicit goal of the program was to build up industry in economically depressed places. That's how you wind up with Mission Control in Houston (a much smaller, poorer city then), a rocket research group in Alabama and massive rocket building and testing facilities in Mississippi. Johnson and Congress were very interested in spreading the jobs and gobs of money around to the poorer areas of the country. I don't know how much all of that actually helped the locals versus just went straight into the pockets of contractors but it was a better jobs program than most of our military industrial complex in that the end goal wasn't to blow up random people in the Middle East.

Also, I did not take Whitey on the Moon as a criticism of social activism at the time, I took it as criticism of Apollo itself.

Also also - the movie did a good job of showing how crappy Neil was to his wife and family at times and showed his wife as a more complex person than just Neil's happy side kick and cheerleader (a la Apollo 13).

It was certainly a more complex movie than most pieces on this topic and certainly more complex than Apollo 13 was even if it's not necessarily a better movie.

I thought the majority consensus with the critics was that they loved this movie?

 

[BenitoChavez]

The Hurt Locker or how Falcon and Hawkeye disarm bombs in the desert.

This film is about a group of 3 soldiers who are a part of a bomb disposal unit in the Iraq war in 2004. They get assigned missions to disarm explosives...and that is basically it. There isn't much plot other than that. There isn't some known, central bad guy that they have to defeat. Other than a handful of scenes, most of the film is focused on their missions and the challenges they face during them.

There also didn't seem to be a core message that the filmmakers were trying to get across. But maybe that was the point. Maybe they were trying to show that a soldier is basically a pawn who is dropped into a confusing disorienting situation over and over. You are only given a short description of the bomb and its location and not much else like who put it there or why. Normally you were in urban areas with lots of bystanders and you don't know if the bystanders were simply curious or would shoot you when you turned your back. Plus there is a language barrier which makes determining friend from foe that much more difficult.

The movie won a bunch of Oscars including best picture and it also has a bunch of well known actors in it. Despite all that I didn't like it very much. I guess it was a bit too "real" for me.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

The Hurt Locker or how Falcon and Hawkeye disarm bombs in the desert.

This film is about a group of 3 soldiers who are a part of a bomb disposal unit in the Iraq war in 2004. They get assigned missions to disarm explosives...and that is basically it. There isn't much plot other than that. There isn't some known, central bad guy that they have to defeat. Other than a handful of scenes, most of the film is focused on their missions and the challenges they face during them. I guess that was the point, to show what it is like being a soldier. You are given missions, other than a short description of the bomb and its location you aren't given much else to go on like who put it there or why. Normally you were in urban areas with lots of bystanders and you don't know if the bystanders were simply curious or would shoot you when you turned your back. Plus there is a language barrier which makes determining friend from foe that much more difficult.

The movie won a bunch of Oscars including best picture and it also has a bunch of well known actors in it. Despite all that I didn't like it very much. I guess it was a bit too "real" for me.

Yeah, it was acclaimed during the 'gritty realism' fad. Better known as 'real life doesn't have a plot so why should movies?'

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I felt no sympathy for the main character. He was reckless and endangered everyone around him constantly. I didn't care for the movie at all and didn't think it deserved best picture.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

I hadn't seen it since its theatrical run and I think it holds up well, even after so many subsequent Marvel movies. I'd forgotten how fast it moves. They really have to jam a lot into these superhero origin stories: they have to establish the character before he or she is superheroic (or even heroic, in some cases); then show their transformation; then show them squaring off with regular bad guys, so we see how super they are; then somehow cram in the 2 or 3-part arc with the super-villain, which would be a fine action movie all by itself. You can see how movies like Iron Man and Doctor Strange sped through it, to varying degrees of success. I always wondered if people who aren't familiar with these characters are just left feeling dazed. Anyway, The First Avenger does it all pretty well. I thought the only casualty of the breakneck pace was the relationship between Steve and Peggy. We kind of had to swallow that they're falling in love without their ever spending any time together. Even that was kind of rolled into the story, and in one of the sequels, Steve tells the now-elderly Peggy that she still owes him a dance. I guess I would have like a line from Peggy or Steve like, "I hardly even know the guy/gal, but I feel like I know her. Y'know?" (A professional writer could hopefully write something better than that, but you get the idea.)

Also, they dropped a couple of 'Easter Eggs' to the old Marvel comic The Invaders, which I used to read as a kid. I don't suspect they'll ever do an Invaders movie, so the Easter Eggs were a nice tip of the cap to old nerds like me. (If you're wondering: The original Human Torch, "Phineas Horton's Synthetic Man", can be seen on display at the 1943 Stark Expo; and Lord Montgomery Fallsworth, the WWII-era Union Jack, is one of the soldiers Steve rescued from the Hydra POW camp and becomes one of the Howling Commandos.)


Wind River (2017)

An excellent entry in the tiny subgenre of modern-day Westerns (that is, Westerns set in the present day, rather than in the "Old West"). Jeremy Renner, Graham Greene, and Elizabeth Olsen investigate the suspicious death of an Arapaho girl on the Wyoming reservation in late Winter. It's more of a mystery story than an action movie, and takes a non-romanticized approach to violence. The area's isolation - "Snow and silence" - is part of the story, and you get the sense that even in 2018, way out there, the protagonists have to take action or nobody will. I've read that the explanation of exactly how a person can die of exposure in those conditions is inaccurate, but it doesn't compromise the story. Well acted, well directed, $11m budget, filmed in Wyoming and Utah (beautiful scenery).

Spoiler :

It's never said that the riggers had committed this crime before - that they killed Emily Lambert - but I think we're supposed to connect those dots. It may just be that Cory was avenging his daughter by avenging her friend.

And in today's socio-political climate, I couldn't help thinking about the racial subtext, whether it was there intentionally or not. On the one hand, that a dead Arapaho girl and her grieving family are avenged by two Whites could be seen as a form of 'the White Man's burden', that the natives can't defend themselves and have to be rescued from outsiders by outsiders. On the other hand, there's a phrase I hear now and again, "Come collect your people", that asks us to police our own social/ethnic/religious group. From that perspective, it's entirely appropriate that Renner and Olsen be the ones to end the group of predatory white men. Clean up your own trash, so to speak. I kind of lean toward the latter interpretation, but maybe they're not mutually-exclusive.

 

[Takhisis]

I felt no sympathy for the main character. He was reckless and endangered everyone around him constantly. I didn't care for the movie at all and didn't think it deserved best picture.

IIRC you were the one who posted some grievances about all the technical mistakes the alleged experts made, in this or an earlier iteration of this thread.

 

[Cutlass]

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

I hadn't seen it since its theatrical run and I think it holds up well, even after so many subsequent Marvel movies. I'd forgotten how fast it moves. They really have to jam a lot into these superhero origin stories: they have to establish the character before he or she is superheroic (or even heroic, in some cases); then show their transformation; then show them squaring off with regular bad guys, so we see how super they are; then somehow cram in the 2 or 3-part arc with the super-villain, which would be a fine action movie all by itself. You can see how movies like Iron Man and Doctor Strange sped through it, to varying degrees of success. I always wondered if people who aren't familiar with these characters are just left feeling dazed. Anyway, The First Avenger does it all pretty well. I thought the only casualty of the breakneck pace was the relationship between Steve and Peggy. We kind of had to swallow that they're falling in love without their ever spending any time together. Even that was kind of rolled into the story, and in one of the sequels, Steve tells the now-elderly Peggy that she still owes him a dance. I guess I would have like a line from Peggy or Steve like, "I hardly even know the guy/gal, but I feel like I know her. Y'know?" (A professional writer could hopefully write something better than that, but you get the idea.)

Also, they dropped a couple of 'Easter Eggs' to the old Marvel comic The Invaders, which I used to read as a kid. I don't suspect they'll ever do an Invaders movie, so the Easter Eggs were a nice tip of the cap to old nerds like me. (If you're wondering: The original Human Torch, "Phineas Horton's Synthetic Man", can be seen on display at the 1943 Stark Expo; and Lord Montgomery Fallsworth, the WWII-era Union Jack, is one of the soldiers Steve rescued from the Hydra POW camp and becomes one of the Howling Commandos.)

More than a year was condensed into half an hour of film. We don't know how long Steve and Peggy spent together. But there was enough there to see the love growing. Even though there was no consummation of it. Which was circumstances, and Steve growing into the maturity and confidence which came with his power and skill.

Wind River (2017)

An excellent entry in the tiny subgenre of modern-day Westerns (that is, Westerns set in the present day, rather than in the "Old West"). Jeremy Renner, Graham Greene, and Elizabeth Olsen investigate the suspicious death of an Arapaho girl on the Wyoming reservation in late Winter. It's more of a mystery story than an action movie, and takes a non-romanticized approach to violence. The area's isolation - "Snow and silence" - is part of the story, and you get the sense that even in 2018, way out there, the protagonists have to take action or nobody will. I've read that the explanation of exactly how a person can die of exposure in those conditions is inaccurate, but it doesn't compromise the story. Well acted, well directed, $11m budget, filmed in Wyoming and Utah (beautiful scenery).

Spoiler :

It's never said that the riggers had committed this crime before - that they killed Emily Lambert - but I think we're supposed to connect those dots. It may just be that Cory was avenging his daughter by avenging her friend.

And in today's socio-political climate, I couldn't help thinking about the racial subtext, whether it was there intentionally or not. On the one hand, that a dead Arapaho girl and her grieving family are avenged by two Whites could be seen as a form of 'the White Man's burden', that the natives can't defend themselves and have to be rescued from outsiders by outsiders. On the other hand, there's a phrase I hear now and again, "Come collect your people", that asks us to police our own social/ethnic/religious group. From that perspective, it's entirely appropriate that Renner and Olsen be the ones to end the group of predatory white men. Clean up your own trash, so to speak. I kind of lean toward the latter interpretation, but maybe they're not mutually-exclusive.

This is a good movie. Although a depressing one.

Spoiler :

I don't think it's ever said who killed Cory's daughter. That was left a mystery.

As to the other, that is, I don't think, so much an element of racism in the form of Indians being unable to stand up for themselves, so much as it is an element of racism in that the Indians are constrained from standing up for themselves. They just had no legal authority off the reservation.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

IIRC you were the one who posted some grievances about all the technical mistakes the alleged experts made, in this or an earlier iteration of this thread.

No that was likely @Commodore
I don't know anything about bombs or bombsquads.

 

[Commodore]

No that was likely @Commodore
I don't know anything about bombs or bombsquads.

Nah, wasn't me. I haven't even seen that movie and I wasn't EOD in the military so I really wouldn't be qualified to speak on any inaccuracies anyway.

 

[Akropolis24]

Johnny English Strikes Again. And some older films with Mr. Bean. I love this actor !

 

[Dachs]

Nah, wasn't me. I haven't even seen that movie and I wasn't EOD in the military so I really wouldn't be qualified to speak on any inaccuracies anyway.

many of the technical errors in the film were not EOD related

 

[cardgame]

On the other hand, there's a phrase I hear now and again, "Come collect your people", that asks us to police our own social/ethnic/religious group.

IIRC, that was historically accurate as well from the 19th century, so it may be a calling-back to that or the tradition is still alive.

 

[Cutlass]

Monty Python's The Life of Brian. Saw it before. Not really holding my attention this time.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Ruth E. Carter, costume designer for Black Panther, is on NPR. She says the costumes of each tribe of Wakanda was inspired by a specific, real-world people or nation. She also says the "tabards" worn by the Dora Milaje indicate which tribe each woman is from, and includes individualized talismans for strength or protection or whatever. She also says Mahershala Ali is her favorite actor right now, and she'd like to work on a musical, something like an old Lena Horne-type thing.

(Not a spoiler, an image.)

Spoiler :

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I re-watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I really enjoyed it but I kind of feel like the love story is stupid and forced.

 

[Zkribbler]

I re-watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I really enjoyed it but I kind of feel like the love story is stupid and forced.

Love stories are hard to write. That's why movies are filled with meaningless sex. Sex is easy.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Was love stories like the one in the movie similar to the books/radio show? Or was the made up just for the movie?

 

[tjs282]

This was between Arthur and Trillian, right (it's a while since I saw the movie)? If so, it was added for the movie, since in the radio show/ books/ TV series, Arthur was a total loser who never got the girl -- that was part of his initial beef with Zaphod:

We've met, haven't we, Zaphod -- or should I say, 'Phil'? It was at a party-...

Yeah, well, I doubt that...

Wha-...? Zaphod, don't tell me you were down on that miserable little planet as well...?

Well, you know, I might have dropped in briefly, on my way somewhere...

A party six months ago. On Earth. England. London. Islington. At this party, there was a girl. Beau-tiful. Devastatingly intelligent.

I'd finally got her to myself for a bit, and was plying her with a bit of talk, when this friend of yours barges up and says "Hey doll, is this guy boring you? Why don't you talk to me instead, I'm from a different planet!" I never saw her again.

I mean, he only had the two arms and the one head at the time, and he called himself Phil, but...

...but you must admit, he was from a different planet...

And my OT-post for this week:

Arrival -- The aliens have come to expand our minds, instead of eating them. Makes a nice change, would recommend
The Nice Guys -- Mildly amusing, Taratino-lite, not quite enough guts to go full James Elroy
Limitless -- Interesting idea and cinematography, but this Hollywood "We only use 10% of our brain" canard really needs to die on a fire...

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Yup it was about them. They had a silly, forced love story.

 

[civvver]

I saw a Star is Born. Not bad per say, just not a real enjoyable movie. Like it is a good movie objectively, well acted, well written, good production value, but I'm not sure if I liked it. It's very depressing.