Which films have you seen lately? ΚΓ' - The thread is your movie hegemon.

[tjs282]

It looks more serious than the original

Could hardly be less serious, though, could it?

 

[Fippy]

The original (painful to even say that now) was typical Arnie..
naturally flowing along. Funny one-liners.

All too easy at times, but Killian was a proper bad guy with charisma.
Feels like you have a choice with taking some parts serious (or not).

 

[lymond]

Feels like you have a choice with taking some parts serious (or not).

Just for clarification, when I say "serious", I mean less campy. The Arnie version is a classic because of its campiness. Richard Dawson was great!

 

[Ordnael]

Another reminder that I haven't seen that gem yet!

 

[EvaDK]

The teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has leaked; better hurry before it's taken down

https://gofile.io/d/MsZY8H

Very eerie, haunting score.

 

[Birdjaguar]

The teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has leaked; better hurry before it's taken down

https://gofile.io/d/MsZY8H

Very eerie, haunting score.

I would bet that Odysseus didn't shave his head.

 

[Arakhor]

He's described at one point as having "hyacinthine" hair, but whether that means dark, curly or something else is unknown.

 

[Clubber Lang]

As for Nolan's last block-buster, king of box office smashes Jim Cam' says ''Oppeinheimer' was a cop out...

James Cameron calls Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer a ‘moral cop-out’​

The Titanic director, who is planning an adaptation of nonfiction book Ghosts of Hiroshima, says Nolan’s film ‘dodged the subject’ of the atomic bomb’s devastating impact on that city

James Cameron has described Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s multi-Oscar-winning 2023 biopic about the atomic scientist Robert Oppenheimer, a “moral cop-out”.

Speaking to Deadline about his forthcoming project Ghosts of Hiroshima, about the effects of the bomb in that city, Cameron said he disagreed with Nolan’s narrative choices. “It’s interesting what he stayed away from,” said Cameron. “Look, I love the film-making, but I did feel that it was a bit of a moral cop-out.”

In Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy stars as the scientist who led the development and design of the atomic bomb during the second world war. The film covers its inception, testing and deployment in Japan in 1945, when the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the deaths of as many as a quarter of a million people by the end of that year – as well as hastening the end of the conflict.

The film depicts Oppenheimer after the war as increasingly wracked by the legacy of his invention, and haunted by images of suffering. However, Cameron said he was among those viewers who felt the film did not go far enough in depicting the immediate aftermath of the attacks.

“It’s not like Oppenheimer didn’t know the effects,” he said. “I don’t like to criticise another film-maker’s film, but there’s only one brief moment where he sees some charred bodies in the audience, and then the film goes on to show how it deeply moved him.

“But I felt that it dodged the subject. I don’t know whether the studio or Chris felt that that was a third rail that they didn’t want to touch, but I want to go straight at the third rail. I’m just stupid that way.”

Oppenheimer was released in 2023 and won Oscars for best picture, director, leading actor (for Murphy), supporting actor (for Robert Downey Jr), and three others. It also made $975m (£720m) at the box office.

At the time of its release, Nolan responded to criticism similar to that put forward by Cameron by explaining he wanted to represent Oppenheimer’s subjective experience. “It was always my intention to rigidly stick to that,” he told Variety. “Oppenheimer heard about the bombing at the same time that the rest of the world did.

“I wanted to show somebody who is starting to gain a clearer picture of the unintended consequences of his actions. It was as much about what I don’t show as what I show.”

Deadline’s Mike Fleming put a rhetorical rebuttal to Cameron, saying Nolan may have reasoned a different film-maker would tell the story of the victims of the bombings in Japan. “Okay, I’ll put up my hand,” said Cameron. “I’ll do it, Chris. No problem. You come to my premiere and say nice things.”

Cameron’s film, which has not yet begun formal production, will be an adaptation of Charles Pellegrino’s forthcoming nonfiction book Ghosts of Hiroshima, which brings together testimonies from victims and survivors of the attacks.

Before then he will release the latest Avatar film, Fire and Ash. His first entry in that franchise is the highest-grossing film of all time, while the sequel is the third. Avengers: Endgame is the second highest-grossing film, but Cameron’s 1997 disaster movie Titanic is the fourth.

I am surprised Michael Bay lover of explosions has not blown up a few atomic bombs on screen, yet. (He would proabaly want to detonate real ones).

 

[Voidwalkin]

I'm afraid I thought Oppenheimer to be wildly overrated, but, Cameron's criticism doesn't vibe with me whatsoever.

I hate it, as a matter of fact. Art need not contain a moral lesson. That is usually the most popular form of film, yeah, but it is not necessary for all of them to be primarily about sending the right message or some such.

 

[Ordnael]

Art need not contain a moral lesson.

I like to believe Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home taught 80's audiences not to hunt humpback whales to extinction, lest an alien entity come back to earth to check on them and proceed to destroy mankind if the whales were not to be found!

 

[Clubber Lang]

Mr Blonde R.i.P

Michael Madsen, star of Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill and Donnie Brasco, dies aged 67​

The actor, best known for his collaborations with Quentin Tarantino, was found unresponsive in Los Angeles

The actor Michael Madsen has died aged 67 at his home in Malibu, according to authorities and his representatives. No foul play is suspected, the sheriff’s department confirmed, after deputies responded to the Los Angeles county home following a call to the emergency services on Thursday morning.


He was pronounced dead at 8.25am. In an email, Madsen’s manager, Ron Smith, confirmed his client had died from cardiac arrest.

A statement from Smith and another manager, Susan Ferris, along with publicist Liz Rodriguez said:

“In the last two years Michael Madsen has been doing some incredible work with independent film including upcoming feature films Resurrection Road, Concessions and Cookbook for Southern Housewives, and was really looking forward to this next chapter in his life.

“Michael was also preparing to release a new book called Tears for My Father: Outlaw Thoughts and Poems, currently being edited. Michael Madsen was one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors, who will be missed by many.”

Over a four-decade career, Madsen had won acclaim for his portrayals of often enigmatic and frequently wise-cracking tough guys in films including Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Reservoir Dogs, Thelma & Louise and Donnie Brasco.

He also features in later Tarantino films including The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Other credits among the 346 listed on IMDb include The Doors, Free Willy, Species, Die Another Day, Sin City and Scary Movie 4.

Madsen began his career in Chicago as part of the Steppenwolf Theatre company as as apprentice to John Malkovich before debuting on the big screen in the 1983 sci-fi WarGames. His global breakthrough came in 1994 when he played the menacing criminal Mr Blonde in Tarantino’s feature debut, Reservoir Dogs.

Madsen’s performance won acclaim for its fleet-footed menace and unreadable joviality – despite the actor originally desiring the part of Mr Pink,(eventually played by Steve Buscemi), because it featured more scenes alongside his hero Harvey Keitel.



Despite teaming up with Tarantino again for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 11 years later, Madsen missed out on a number of significant film roles that might have expanded the scope of his career, including the leads in LA Confidential and Natural Born Killers.

Speaking to the Guardian in 2004, he expressed frustration with some fellow film-makers for passing him over for parts, as well as with what he perceived as a wider lack of care within the industry.

“When I was really down and out,” he said, “and I was just ready to flatline, you would think that an element of Hollywood would try to hold you up, just keep you going. I mean, everybody pretty much knows that I’m a father. A lot of people have made a lot of money with me involved in their projects, so if only for that reason. But no – nothing was happening.”

Madsen also ascribed the “patchiness” of his career to a being a man out of time. “Maybe I was just born in the wrong era,” he said. “I’m a bit of a throwback to the days of black-and-white movies. Those guys back then, they had a certain kind of directness about them. A lot of the screenplays, the plots were very simplistic – they gave rise to a type of antihero that maybe I suit better.”

The actor also said he felt more at home with traditional male pursuits than in performance. “All the putting on makeup and dressing up in clothes,’ he says. ‘And you got to be a bit self-centred to pull it off. I guess it’s just the way I was brought up. For me, it’s more masculine to dig ditches or drive a tow truck.”

The brother of actor Virginia Madsen, he was married three times and had seven children, one of whom pre-deceased him.

Virginia Madsen paid tribute to her older brother on Thursday with a statement to Variety. The two mutually supported their careers over the years, often attending each other’s red carpets.

“My brother Michael has left the stage,” Virginia wrote. “He was thunder and velvet. Mischief wrapped in tenderness. A poet disguised as an outlaw. A father, a son, a brother – etched in contradiction, tempered by love that left its mark.

“We’re not mourning a public figure,” she continued. “We’re not mourning a myth – but flesh and blood and ferocious heart. Who stormed through life loud, brilliant, and half on fire. Who leaves us echoes – gruff, brilliant, unrepeatable – half legend, half lullaby.”

“I’ll miss our inside jokes, the sudden laughter, the sound of him. I’ll miss the boy he was before the legend; I miss my big brother,” she concluded. “In time, we’ll share how we plan to celebrate his life – but for now, we stay close, and let the silence say what words can’t.”

 

[Ordnael]

Maybe I am going to be unfair when I say this but, from the movies I saw, mostly Tarantino's, he always played the same guy. And always liked his acting for that. It was a disturbing guy, like a psycho on happy pills, always made me feel unease like "there's a guy who would kill me but would still smile at me like nothing's wrong while coming up with some weird trivia"
...
Vin Diesel always plays the same guy and that is why 2 Fast 2 Furious is my favourite movie from the Fast & Furious franchise

 

[Birdjaguar]

Me Earl and the Dying Girl High school drama so well done. Well worth a watch.

 

[Clubber Lang]

Maybe I am going to be unfair when I say this but, from the movies I saw, mostly Tarantino's, he always played the same guy. And always liked his acting for that. It was a disturbing guy, like a psycho on happy pills, always made me feel unease like "there's a guy who would kill me but would still smile at me like nothing's wrong while coming up with some weird trivia"
...
Vin Diesel always plays the same guy and that is why 2 Fast 2 Furious is my favourite movie from the Fast & Furious franchise

One of those actors you would sometimes mix up for another, in this case it would be Tom Sizemore.

He was dapper as the mob boss in Brasco too, shame he wont feature in the supposedly 10th and final film by Quentin Jerome Tarantino.

Michael Madsen’s brooding charisma needed Tarantino to unlock it​

The Reservoir Dogs and Donnie Brasco actor had a rare, sometimes scary power, as well as a winning self-awareness and levity

Until 1992, when people heard Stuck in the Middle With You by Stealers Wheel on the radio, they might smile and nod and sing along to its catchy soft-rock tune and goofy Dylan-esque lyrics. But after 1992, with the release of Quentin Tarantino’s sensationally tense and violent crime movie Reservoir Dogs, the feelgood mood around that song forever darkened. That was down to an unforgettably scary performance by Michael Madsen, who has died at the age of 67.


Stuck in the Middle, with its lyrics about being “so scared in case I fall off my chair”, was to be always associated with the image of Madsen, whom Tarantino made an icon of indie American movies, with his boxy black suit, sinister, ruined handsomeness and powerful physique running to fat, playing tough guy Vic Vega, AKA Mr Blonde. He grooved back and forth across the room, in front of a terrified cop tied to a chair, dancing to that Stealers Wheel number, holding his straight razor, which he had removed from his boot – smirkingly preparing to torture the cop (that is, torture him further) by cutting off his ear.


His Mr Blonde is a nasty piece of work, really without the ironising or humanising touches that Tarantino and co-writer Roger Avary speckle over the rest of the crew; Madsen brought beef and heft to the role and added ballast to the picture, making sure we realise that this was not a collection of snarky suit-wearing hipsters and standup comedians, but serious criminals.


Madsen was to become a repertory player for Tarantino, though turning down the Vincent Vega role in Pulp Fiction (supposedly the brother of his Dogs character; Tarantino once considered bringing them together for a prequel called Double V Vega). Famously, the part went to John Travolta, Madsen having committed himself to Lawrence Kasdan’s Wyatt Earp, playing Wyatt’s brother Virgil. Perhaps this was serendipitous for Tarantino, because Madsen was a born supporting player. In Kill Bill: Vols 1 and 2, he played the oafish trailer-trash Budd, brother of David Carradine’s intimidating Bill, a one-time member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad who has neglected his warrior vocation and run to seed, having to Bill’s horror even pawned his priceless samurai sword. In Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight, he was the creepy and taciturn loner Joe, slouching in the corner of the roadhouse where most of the action is set.

Aside from the Tarantino appearances, Madsen played formidable wiseguy Sonny Black in Mike Newell’s Donnie Brasco, deeply suspicious (as in Dogs) of a suspected cop, the pretty-boy newcomer Johnny Depp, sensing that something about him is off – and he himself played a cop (though a ruthless one) in Lee Tamahori’s Mulholland Falls.

In fact, Madsen was to make a living out of playing tough guys in a whole raft of forgettable pictures, sometimes with hardly more than a cameo. Perhaps Madsen could have had a different career – he did after all effectively apprentice as an actor with John Malkovich at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company; his wryly self-aware and self-satirising movie Being Michael Madsen is a nod to Being John Malkovich. Madsen’s mother, Elaine Madsen, was an award-winning documentary film-maker and sister Virginia Madsen is Oscar-nominated for her performance in Alexander Payne’s Sideways. But Michael Madsen found himself typecast in violent roles, despite having played a heartfelt, gentler role in Free Willy, and the broodingly intense poet Tom Baker, Jim Morrison’s friend, in Oliver Stone’s The Doors and he showed tender gallantry as Susan Sarandon’s boyfriend in Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise.

Tarantino unlocked one very powerful side to Madsen – but he had more, and it was sad that somehow he couldn’t show them as much as he wanted. But what natural charisma and presence.

Come back to visit mother for Xmas type, haha...

'' Joe Gage: And, uh, figured I'd come home and spend time with my mother - for Christmas.
John 'The Hangman' Ruth: Now, that's funny. 'Cause you don't look like the coming-home-for-Christmas type.
Joe Gage: Yeah, well, you know, looks can be deceiving. Because I definitely am a coming-home-for-Christmas- to-spend-time-with-Mother type.''

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He was the star in a ESPN poker show -

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Yakuza voice-over -

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Free watch -

When convicted bank robber Tyler Pierce (Michael Madsen) learns that his daughter has been brutally murdered by a serial killer, his world collapses. En route to prison, he stages a daring escape and joins forces with a determined female agent (Jamie Luner). As they track the elusive “Sweetwater Killer,” they uncover a chilling pattern: the murderer targets women who have recently had abortions — leaving behind gruesomely mutilated bodies. Driven by rage and the need for justice, Tyler stops at nothing to find the killer… even if it costs him everything.

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Remember Reservoir Dog style suits were all the rage, i got one too! (weddings, parties etc...not bank heists)

''Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right...''

 

[Smellincoffee]

Princess Diaries, 2001. Anne Hathaway tries to look Hollywood Ugly with frizzy hair and prominent glasses, and is then told she’s a princess.

The Devil Wears Prada, 2006. Anne Hathaway plays an aspiring journalist who lands a job at a fashion magazine with a psycho boss. Stanley Tucci also appears.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III. This is the one where April buys a weird lamp at a thrift store and then she gets teleported to feudal Japan, and the guys have to go after her and they get caught up in some civil war between Grumpy Man and Mitsui, Warrior Princess, a war that can only be remedied if Mitsui, Warrior Princess, marries Grumpy Man’s son Kenshin, who – inconveniently – was teleported into 1990s NYC along with his father’s honor guard because time travel only works if you match the number of people going and coming exactly. I have conflicted feelings about this one: it’s…silly, but Secret of the Ooze was downright preposterous, especially with Tokka and Razar who would only work in a kids movie. There’s some stuff in here I could only appreciate as an adult, especially Mike or Raph asking a samurai if they liked baseball.

1776, 1972. A rewatch for me, introduced the ladyfriend to it. Excellent, excellent, excellent. I’d forgotten how great a movie it is, between the impassioned debates, casting, acting, and music. It’s only aged better the older I get, as I now recognize so much dialogue from the letters of the Founders themselves.

SuperVixens, 1975. A….crime….suspense…..trash movie about a man being chased by Charles Napier. Let’s leave it at that. (Just read Russ Meyer’s wikipedia article, you’ll get the idea.)

The Patriot, 2000. My lord, I’d forgotten how utterly hatable Jason Isaacs is in this movie. In his first five minutes on film, he’s ordered an innocent man’s house and fields set fire to, ordered a teenager to be hung as a spy, and shot a child. This is a Revolutionary War murder drama in which a farmer who is determined to shield his children from the War sees one threatened with hanging and another one shot, at which point he chooses violence. Glorious, bloody violence. Also, Rene Auberjonis (aka Odo from ST DS9) is a supporting actor in this! Also, Jayne Cobb’s actor Adam Baldwin shows up…..as a redcoat!

In Bruges, 2008. A hitman accidentally kills a child while on an assignment, and is told to hang out in Belgium until the heat dies down. He is accompanied by Mad Eye Mooney, which is funny because their mutual boss is Ralph Fiennes, aka Voldemort. The beginning of the film is a low-key suspense film with some comedic elements, as Moody enjoys the culture of Bruges but the hitman finds it only tolerable after he meets a local and starts dating her. It turns out that Voldemort sent the hitman to Bruges so he’d have a nice week before someone else knocked him off to avoid any problems with law enforcement and the dead kid. Nice to have such a considerate, if murderous, boss.

Rock and Roll High School, 1979. An enthusiast of the Ramones meets them at a concert and invites them to take over her high school. Basically a Ramones musical with the plot being of secondary – perhaps tertiary – importance. The highlight for me was Dey Young, who I recognized from several episodes of Star Trek's 1990s shows.

 

[warpus]

I finally watched Ready Player One. I honestly did not remember it's a Spielberg movie, that popped up right at the end and surprised me. I also did not expect for so much of it to be CGI, but I mean of couse that makes perfect sense. I did stay away from all spoilers surrounding this movie when it first came out, so maybe that's why those elements surprised me. Going into it a bit blind gave me an interesting set of expectations for it though - I remember it being a popular movie, but didn't really know much more than that. I knew it was about a virtual world and some sort of a quest, but that's about it. I knew about all the 80s references so those didn't surprise me, but often felt a bit forced.

So yeah, overall I found this movie a bit average. The virtual world, as presented, seemed a bit lame. It was tough to believe that all humans live in this virtual world and ignore the real world. All that seemed unnecessarily cliched and not well executed as a concept. The whole story seemed a bit underwhelming too. Maybe I wasn't watching the movie right, but I was never feeling much enthusiasm for the protagonist. So when he accomplished his goals it felt a bit meh.

I also found it hard to believe that nobody else would have heard "go backwards real fast" and understood that it means.. to literally go backwards. Maybe I wasn't watching the movie right though, like I said.

Overall I guess the main problem was that it was hard for my mind to accept the presented world as something that actually exists. It all seemed too cartoony and cliched. Cleveland is the largest city in the world? Just seems like some fantasy thought up by some crack smoking Cleveland mayor from the 80s.

When that 'Spielberg' popped up at the end, one thought I had was that this contained some of the same elements as some previous Spielberg classics. Movies that had this spark of magic in it. E.T., Batteries not included, Back to the Future.. It felt as if Ready Player One was trying to recreate that magic, and had a bunch of those elements, but altogether just fell flat in giving us that vibe.

Am I being too harsh here? This movie seems like such a crowd favourite. I just couldn't properly get into it.

 

[PhroX]

I haven't seen the film, but I didn't think that much of the book. I really couldn't figure out who it was aimed at: in terms of the story, it felt like a lonely 14-year old's fantasy and as an adult reader it was too simplistic and wish fulfilmenty, but at the same time, it was full of references that said 14-year old wouldn't get.

 

[EvaDK]

I'm afraid I thought Oppenheimer to be wildly overrated, but, Cameron's criticism doesn't vibe with me whatsoever.

I hate it, as a matter of fact. Art need not contain a moral lesson. That is usually the most popular form of film, yeah, but it is not necessary for all of them to be primarily about sending the right message or some such.

I don't recall James Cameron pausing the narrative, action and visual effects spectacle in Terminator 2, thinking that the audience now needs a lesson in history and morality to get the 'right' message either.

Maybe audiences inferred it from Oppenheimer, despite Nolan not beating them over the head with it?

Maybe audiences are a lot smarter than Cameron gives them credit for?

Am I being too harsh here? This movie seems like such a crowd favourite. I just couldn't properly get into it.

I hated it. I hated the protagonist. I hated Spielberg's 'love letter' to Kubrick's The Shining at the end. Ready Player One was Spielberg at his most hack director.

 

[bene_legionary]

Having never experienced a David Lynch film before I watched Mulholland Road.

I was most confused, but my greatest mistake was letting the wikipedia synopsis rob me of the fun of understanding it.

I will never read wikipedia after a movie again.

Maybe the audience was the car crash victim all along.

 

[Voidwalkin]

I watched that British gangster movie where Tom Hardy plays two twins. It's decent.

The script is middling. The camerawork middling. The soundtrack middling.

Tom Hardy is good, though. I think he is my favorite actor of this generation. I don't think Gosling is his equal.

Hardy is kinda husky which I think may prevent him from larger profile roles. It is the movie business, unfortunately. It's just kinda his build, too, if he got ripped, he'd still be barrel chested and broad shouldered. Too bad, I don't think there are hardly any movies at all he does not make better.