KnightBrolaire
sso's unofficial pickup tester
Dead Ringers
Movies you've been watching...
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nightflameauto
Well-Known Member
The HBO Documentary: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.
The synapsis doesn't really do this one justice. Supposedly it's a documentary about the Sacklers and Purdue and the Opioid epipdemic, but really it's a very poignant walk down memory lane for one person and the people she surrounded herself with. There's a ton of sub-culture buried in this thing as the filmmakers walk through this woman's life, her time spend getting to know people under the shiny surface of the places she's lived, and seeing how they lived, and in some cases how they died.
Not a cheery story at all, but very healtfelt.
Worth a watch, even though at times it felt like the whole thing had ADHD the way it subject hopped. Still a good, poignant, sometimes sarcastic look at a part of our culture that some people get very uncomfortable realizing still exists.
The synapsis doesn't really do this one justice. Supposedly it's a documentary about the Sacklers and Purdue and the Opioid epipdemic, but really it's a very poignant walk down memory lane for one person and the people she surrounded herself with. There's a ton of sub-culture buried in this thing as the filmmakers walk through this woman's life, her time spend getting to know people under the shiny surface of the places she's lived, and seeing how they lived, and in some cases how they died.
Not a cheery story at all, but very healtfelt.
Worth a watch, even though at times it felt like the whole thing had ADHD the way it subject hopped. Still a good, poignant, sometimes sarcastic look at a part of our culture that some people get very uncomfortable realizing still exists.
Seabeast2000
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Watched "The Family" on Prime.
That family should have died.
That family should have died.
KnightBrolaire
sso's unofficial pickup tester
John Wick 4- a bloated ridiculous finale to the JW series. The action was fucking absurd with (especially how durable the bullet proof suits were). Scott Adkins chews scenery like a motherfucker in the movie and steals the show tbh. Donnie Yen is great, but not great enough to steal the show like Adkins. Overall like other JW films the story is less important because the fight scenes are so good. I will say that other than Keanu's nunchuk scene his fights overall feel overly drawn out for someone who is supposed to be a top assassin. He wastes a lot of time (and bullets) trying to dispatch foes in multiple ways. Yen's scenes are completely fucking ridiculous but he sells them with his typical speed and economy of movement. The end fight is the funniest of all imo, but I won't spoil it.
The acting overall is wooden as fuck, but it doesn't matter when the fights are good.
The cinematography and framing are spectacular. They get some insane shots. I particularly loved the overhead tracking shot in the apartment building where it felt like one take.
Fun Fact: they used a remix of Justice's Genesis for the Sacre Coeur stair fight scene.
There are multiple scenes where I actually cringed from how brutal the scenes are (which is impressive af tbh, as very little phases me anymore).
Even with the goofy bits and wooden acting, the movie still manages to deliver some heartfelt emotion.
Fun and definitely worth a watch if you like the previous JW films.
The acting overall is wooden as fuck, but it doesn't matter when the fights are good.
The cinematography and framing are spectacular. They get some insane shots. I particularly loved the overhead tracking shot in the apartment building where it felt like one take.
Fun Fact: they used a remix of Justice's Genesis for the Sacre Coeur stair fight scene.
There are multiple scenes where I actually cringed from how brutal the scenes are (which is impressive af tbh, as very little phases me anymore).
Even with the goofy bits and wooden acting, the movie still manages to deliver some heartfelt emotion.
Fun and definitely worth a watch if you like the previous JW films.
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KnightBrolaire
sso's unofficial pickup tester
DnD: Honor Among Thieves - It kind of overstays its welcome in terms of length. Cast is great, in particular Chris Pine and Justice Smith. Action scenes are pretty good, especially the barbarian fights. The comedy was hit or miss tbh. It's a well done film and is worth a watch if you just want to see some a popcorn fantasy film.
nightflameauto
Well-Known Member
Our Idiot Brother - rating: nope / 10
Paul Rudd playing a hapless fool. And it's not funny. Hollywood? Are you capable of funny movies anymore? You manage to take all the funny out of Paul Rudd. PAUL F'IN RUDD? WTF?
I'm tired of modern "comedy." It all feels like the writers think they're imparting some life-lesson shit, except it's so clumsy and stupid that it comes off completely disingenuous. They even had to have the self-worship of a movie/documentary producer shoved into this one. Just shut the fuck up and be funny for a change. Dang.
Nope - This was a good alt-take on alien invasion. I mean, we've seen similar stories before, but this one was pretty strong in it's take. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would going in, which is rare these days.
Paul Rudd playing a hapless fool. And it's not funny. Hollywood? Are you capable of funny movies anymore? You manage to take all the funny out of Paul Rudd. PAUL F'IN RUDD? WTF?
I'm tired of modern "comedy." It all feels like the writers think they're imparting some life-lesson shit, except it's so clumsy and stupid that it comes off completely disingenuous. They even had to have the self-worship of a movie/documentary producer shoved into this one. Just shut the fuck up and be funny for a change. Dang.
Nope - This was a good alt-take on alien invasion. I mean, we've seen similar stories before, but this one was pretty strong in it's take. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would going in, which is rare these days.
wankerness
Well-Known Member
How is one unfunny comedy related to trends in "modern comedy"? There are so many different kinds of modern comedy that one random movie can't be used to extrapolate trends. Like, it sounds from your description like this is more something you'd compare to crappy "dramedies" from the early 2000s vs most things that have come out in the last several years. Not that I've seen it. Looks like it's more than 10 years old though. But what are you talking about, anyway? What was the "golden age" of comedy? They've always mostly sucked! It's just that as the years go by people only remember the few good ones. So instead of thinking of the 70s as being the era of garbage romantic comedies starring Burt Reynolds or the 80s as being hundreds of Porky's ripoffs or the 90s as being a ton of unfunny garbage SNL cash-ins that bombed (ex Almost Heroes, Black Sheep, A Night at the Roxbury, It's Pat, Coneheads, etc), they think of the 70s as being the era of Animal House/Slap Shot/Blazing Saddles and the 80s as being the era of Ghostbusters/The Blues Brothers/Funny Farm or the 90s as being the era of Happy Gilmore, etc.
They made Paul Rudd unfunny in Ant Man, too. It's been done on a larger scale! At least we'll always have Wet Hot American Summer. I can watch that scene where he throws the plate on the floor and has to pick it up on repeat and laugh every single time.
John
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Couldn't agree more on Scott being so underrated. It's still inspiring to watch his work after all these years, and bonus points on his account of being willing and committed to teach stuff he can pull off in those action scenes.
nightflameauto
Well-Known Member
There used to a category of film referred to as "comedy" that would at least cause some laughing. Now there's a category of film referred to as "comedy" that seems to be a catch-all for whatever garbage that gets churned out that they can't figure out how else to promote.
I don't remember picking up any comedy before, say, twenty-ten or so that wasn't at least mildly amusing. Now we're sitting about about 20% chance of LOL, 60% chance of -_-, 20% chance it's some agenda being shoved down your throat with zero funny at all, but a star or two known for being comedic in the past.
I guess on some level I'd just like to see movies that aren't funny stop being promoted as comedies in general. There's a LOT of them out there right now. We've watched way too many of them when seeking out something funny, and I think I'm having a guttural reaction to being misdirected over and over again by our streaming services. Basically, if they don't know what category to shove a movie, they seem to just look at the lead stars and go, "Oh, comedy." Eisenberg *can* be funny, but he's got a SHITPILE of films out there that aren't funny, but promoted as comedy. This happened to be the first time I came across Rudd in a shitbox promoted as comedy, and it sorta irked me.
The first Ant Man was at least amusing. I haven't seen the others yet.
My favorite WHAS Rudd moment was literally THROWING the motorcycle at a tree as he jumped off it. Gat dang can he throw a hissy fit.
wankerness
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I dunno what you're referring to. Can you be more specific? List some other names? My suspicion is there are analogs for that in every decade since film began. I don't know anything about this Paul Rudd movie you're talking about.
If you mean "the jokes aren't ever funny" that's a matter of taste, basically every bad comedy ever made is like that. If you mean "there literally are no jokes" I'd have to know what movies you're talking about! I mean, there are plenty of comedies that are as much or more dramatic than they are comedic and are frequently referred to as "dramedies" (ex, Little Miss Sunshine, Funny People) but it's not like there's no humor in them at all! They're also their own subgenre.
I remember having a similar reaction to some blacker than black, drier than dry comedies from the good ol' days. They were absolutely comedies, they just weren't "lol funny joke" style. Ex Kind Hearts and Coronets, Rules of the Game.
nightflameauto
Well-Known Member
I'm more talking about movies that have no jokes at all being listed as comedies.
I love dramadies as long as they're done well. Little Miss Sunshine is a great movie. There's heart, but there's also legitimate laughs along the way.
I'd have trouble listing specific examples without going back over my history of posting, "Sick of comedies that aren't funny" posts because honestly, the films tend to be something that irk me long enough to say, "this sucks" and then fall out of my head a day or two later, but there have been a LOT of them.
I'd imagine scrolling through this thread would net a few more of them out of me, but I'm not gonna invest time in yet again finding Hollywood lacking.
Most of them are ones we come across when we're both in the mood to laugh, and then we watch an hour and a half of something promoted as a comedy that doesn't make us laugh once. TV shows have a better track record, though the trend is starting to set in there as well. And believe me, I know the difference between "not my humor" and "not humor." Way too many fall into the latter category, yet still somehow garner a "comedy" label.
wankerness
Well-Known Member
Hm...yeah, still no idea what you're talking about when you say these movies contain no humor and are sold as comedies. I can think of many examples of movies marketed as comedies that didn't make me laugh once, but they still obviously contained what were attempts at humor. Ex, pretty much anything with "Movie" as the last word in the title, besides Not Another Teen Movie which is awesome. But like, my most painful comedy experience of all time was probably Sausage Party - I saw that in the theater and the entire thing was one big groan, didn't laugh a single time, utterly hated every second of it. But I could see where it thought it was being funny! LOL FOOD SAYS NAUGHTY WORD LOL!!!
I'm very picky when it comes to comedies, but I still don't know what you're trying to describe!
Looking at comedies I've really liked over the last 20 years, there's very few and most of them were dramedies. Ex The Big Sick, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Inside Out, Moonrise Kingdom, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Lady Bird, Adventureland, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, etc. I guess there were a few just silly ones I mostly liked, ex 21 Jump Street, What We Do in the Shadows, Deadpool, Cabin in the Woods, 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Anchorman, Neighbors, Muppets Most Wanted, Hot Fuzz and Guardians of the Galaxy 1. For the most part though it's definitely TV which is vastly funnier. I Think You Should Leave, The Goes Wrong Show, early seasons of The Office/Parks and Rec/Community, etc. I think humor just works better in small chunks.
I'm very picky when it comes to comedies, but I still don't know what you're trying to describe!
Looking at comedies I've really liked over the last 20 years, there's very few and most of them were dramedies. Ex The Big Sick, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Inside Out, Moonrise Kingdom, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Lady Bird, Adventureland, Hunt for the Wilderpeople, etc. I guess there were a few just silly ones I mostly liked, ex 21 Jump Street, What We Do in the Shadows, Deadpool, Cabin in the Woods, 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad, Anchorman, Neighbors, Muppets Most Wanted, Hot Fuzz and Guardians of the Galaxy 1. For the most part though it's definitely TV which is vastly funnier. I Think You Should Leave, The Goes Wrong Show, early seasons of The Office/Parks and Rec/Community, etc. I think humor just works better in small chunks.
nightflameauto
Well-Known Member
While we have a few in common here, there's a trend going on whether you care to see it or not, of movies being labeled "comedy" that have no real attempt at humor in them. The only thing that was even mildly amusing in this Rudd fiasco was him telling the little kid to go tell his mom to go fuck herself. And that was only funny in the "yeah, I would have thought that was funny when I was the kid's age" way.
Since I'm guessing we're not gonna sync up on this discussion, I guess I'll leave it at that. I'm certainly not out to debate my feeling on the issue. I'm just tired of pulling up a random comedy, seeing zero attempt at humor, and more often than not walking away feeling preached at.
p0ke
7-string guitard
Just came home from watching the Super Mario Bros. Movie with the kids and my sister. What an awesome movie! A few moments were a tad scary for my 6yo, but they were very few and with 2 adults to comfort her it was OK.
The only "flaw" we found was that one beloved piece of music was missing, but that's just us - I used to play the game (Mario 3) and my sister would watch and sing along to the music with made up lyrics, and one of the songs we particularly remembered was missing.
The only "flaw" we found was that one beloved piece of music was missing, but that's just us - I used to play the game (Mario 3) and my sister would watch and sing along to the music with made up lyrics, and one of the songs we particularly remembered was missing.
Bloody_Inferno
Silence is Violence
Saw the Mario movie with the family over the weekend as well. Thought it was good fun, it doesn't need to be any more than what it is. The pacing moves too quickly and doesn't give any time for the characters to breathe in favour of showing all the set pieces and 'greatest hits'. But to be fair, it's become extremely rare for any movie in this day and age to clock in a tight 90 mins.
Regarding the music, I thought it was great when it uses all the classic songs and motifs, and even the 90s Super Show theme, celebrating Nintendo's legacy. But I thought it felt tired and contrived when the pop songs were used. Beastie Boys, that's fine I guess. Tomoyasu Hotei and Bonnie Tyler, they make sense on their respective scenes, but it's predictable and overdone. But using A-Ha on that particular scene was the song that most felt off. Apparently, there was another song that was intended to be used but was omitted in the last minute. And hearing it makes me wish they stuck with that song over Take On Me.
p0ke
7-string guitard
Yeah, it's a kids movie after all, so you can't expect it to be very deep and all that. I read some review of it where the plot was bashed, but tbh, who cares? Both adults and kids were laughing pretty much throughout the movie, so they must've done something right.
I agree about the music, they could've used music from the games for everything and just arranged the themes to fit the scenes. I mean, I get that AC/DC fits the part when they go karting, but why not just arrange some music from Mario Kart into that style instead? And like you said, they should've especially skipped Take on Me...
Bloody_Inferno
Silence is Violence
My guess with the insert music is that since between Illumination and Dreamworks, it's been a tradition to do so. It worked in Despicable Me, Shrek etc, and it's just the thing to do. Part of that whole Kart scene is that they did use snippets of classic songs, so it's clear they wanted to pander as much as they could. Most of us who watch the Mario movie know what we're here for, and it's clear the property is strong enough to stand on its own, which is why it gets away with a simple plot. Perhaps they should've committed harder to trusting their target audience (being kids and their parents and other adults who grew up with Mario) with using all the Nintendo music at their disposal without needing insert songs.
CanserDYI
Yeah, No, Definitely.
I also really enjoyed the Mario movie, I thought it was fun, looked amazing, kept me entertained and most of all, my two kids entertained haha. Looked pretty cool in 3D too. I also really enjoyed the flip from the norm and had Peach be a strong woman instead of someone Mario has to save like some Damsel. I agree they could have made it a bit longer and slowed it down, I don't think it would have suffered.
