2021 Films

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Applerill
Autistic Princess <3


Gender: Female
Age: 30
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  • #61
  • Posted: 10/14/2021 02:26
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Okay, I haven’t seen any of the Daniel Craig Bond movies (and only a couple Bond movies in general), but I just saw No Time To Die with my mom, and I thought it was good but not great.

In theory, it has almost EVERYTHING I could ask for in an action movie: Breathtaking cinematography and choreography, strong setup and payback in so many scenes, compelling performances, and even a few powerful Malickian moments at the end. But for some reason I couldn’t give it to myself to give it even a 3.5. Maybe it’s the way it’s literally a hagiography to racist copaganda; maybe it’s the way the script awkwardly dances beyond the ableist facial disfigurement of Rami Malik with phrases like “I can’t trust pretty faces” and “people like that are more likely dangers to themselves”; maybe it’s the way (despite seemingly being finished before the pandemic?) it tries to be so “topical” without actually saying anything about the world. It never felt offensive to me, but it definitely felt a little hollow at the end.

It’s weird, because I feel like I’ve focused much less on the politics of most movies since I became a filmmaker, and much more on formalism. But No Time to Die proved that sometimes even “dynamic visual language” isn’t enough on its own. After all, I feel like even stuff I love like Police Story and Michael Snow’s Le Region Centrale still talk about things in the world in new ways, particularly in how we SEE the world. This just felt like a capitalist confirmation bias in that regard, and that made all the virtuosity lack the power of something like John Woo’s The Killer.
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theblueboy





  • #62
  • Posted: 10/26/2021 11:35
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The Todd Haynes Velvets doc is excellent. One of the best music docs I’ve seen.
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Hayden




Location: CDMX
Canada

  • #63
  • Posted: 10/26/2021 19:23
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theblueboy wrote:
The Todd Haynes Velvets doc is excellent. One of the best music docs I’ve seen.


Looking forward to it. I've heard great things as well.

Side note on music— tis Jonny Greenwood's year to win an Oscar. The Power of the Dog / Spencer / Licorice Pizza, I don't care. Overdue.

Side-side note on film— Petite Maman, Gunda, and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy get two thumbs up from me. Dune was okay. Titane was... good. Berman Island meh. I'm Your Man was goofy and decent, but not a heavyhitter. Fever Dream baaaaad. There's a also a film going around called Nowhere Special that impressed me. It's a bit of tear-jerker bait, but it's done well.

And I don't usually go for Marvel stuff, but I gave Black Widow a watch. I don't have much to say about it honestly. I don't understand this stuff.
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BozoTyrannus



Gender: Male
Age: 31
Guyana

  • #64
  • Posted: 10/27/2021 01:20
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My eyes liked Dune. My ears were not fans.
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LedZep




Croatia (Hrvatska)

  • #65
  • Posted: 10/30/2021 02:32
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I think all of my senses were pretty big fans of Dune. There could've been some more subtle, slower or otherwise sophisticated storytelling (and perhaps slightly better editing, some scene transitions were slightly too fast even for a blockbuster scifi epic), but apart from that it gets a solid 9/10 from me. For reference, I've not read the book, but 2 od the friends I was with did and one of them said "this world looks much better on film than in my imagination" which is honestly one of the best compliments I can think of.
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EyeKanFly
Head Bear Master/Galactic Emperor



Age: 33
Location: Gotham
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  • #66
  • Posted: 10/30/2021 13:15
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LedZep wrote:
one of them said "this world looks much better on film than in my imagination" which is honestly one of the best compliments I can think of.


Agreed, that's high praise. I think the only movie(s) I can think of that does that is Lord of the Rings. Though my imagination was probably tainted by the silly Hobbit & LotR cartoon movies and some lackluster illustrations in the books as I owned them.

Every time Dennis Villenueve has a new movie, it always seems to have tons of praise heaped on it, critically or by fans or otherwise. But somehow I've never seen anything he's done. I know I should watch Arrival, Sicario, and Blade Runner 2049, and now Dune. Maybe I'll check it out if I can get some IMAX tickets. The local IMAX theater has been closed for remodeling for a year or so, I'm concerned it'll even open back up again.
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Hayden




Location: CDMX
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  • #67
  • Posted: 10/31/2021 15:15
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BozoTyrannus wrote:
My eyes liked Dune. My ears were not fans.


I'm the other way around Laughing (ish).

The audiowork was better than the film itself. (Cinematography was great too). I just didn't care for the actual script.


Quote:
Every time Dennis Villenueve has a new movie, it always seems to have tons of praise heaped on it, critically or by fans or otherwise. But somehow I've never seen anything he's done. I know I should watch Arrival, Sicario, and Blade Runner 2049, and now Dune. Maybe I'll check it out if I can get some IMAX tickets. The local IMAX theater has been closed for remodeling for a year or so, I'm concerned it'll even open back up again.


Yeah, I'd get on him. Start with... I'd say... Prisoners. Or perhaps his anti-capitalism short Next Floor. Arrival in particular needs a big screen. I think he's probably the most prolific director of the 2010s. His '10-'17 run is stronger than what most directors put out in an entire career. Hoping he finally ends up winning some awards here and there.

I just wasn't into Dune all that much.
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LedZep




Croatia (Hrvatska)

  • #68
  • Posted: 10/31/2021 23:56
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Hayden wrote:
I'm the other way around Laughing (ish).

The audiowork was better than the film itself. (Cinematography was great too). I just didn't care for the actual script.


Quote:
Every time Dennis Villenueve has a new movie, it always seems to have tons of praise heaped on it, critically or by fans or otherwise. But somehow I've never seen anything he's done. I know I should watch Arrival, Sicario, and Blade Runner 2049, and now Dune. Maybe I'll check it out if I can get some IMAX tickets. The local IMAX theater has been closed for remodeling for a year or so, I'm concerned it'll even open back up again.


Yeah, I'd get on him. Start with... I'd say... Prisoners. Or perhaps his anti-capitalism short Next Floor. Arrival in particular needs a big screen. I think he's probably the most prolific director of the 2010s. His '10-'17 run is stronger than what most directors put out in an entire career. Hoping he finally ends up winning some awards here and there.

I just wasn't into Dune all that much.
Really? That's fairly shocking to me, seemed like everything Villenueve usually does, even better in some aspects. You're not a fan of Dune in general, or this particular script seems too far off from the book? Or is it something else?

But totally agree that Arrival in cinema is one of the best movie experiences I've ever had.
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Hayden




Location: CDMX
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  • #69
  • Posted: 11/01/2021 02:12
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LedZep wrote:
Really? That's fairly shocking to me, seemed like everything Villenueve usually does, even better in some aspects. You're not a fan of Dune in general, or this particular script seems too far off from the book? Or is it something else?

But totally agree that Arrival in cinema is one of the best movie experiences I've ever had.


Disclosure— I knew nothing of Dune other than what's mentioned in Jodorwsky's doc. I never even saw Lynch's version. I've never read the book. I'm transparent on the fact I'm not a sci-fi fan in general, no matter the medium (that does not mean I hate sci-fi, it's just usually a miss for me rather than a hit), but Dune fell super flat for me.

Think I kept it put at a 6/10, which mostly boiled down to how impressed I was with the production. The plot did very little for me. Confused It was too cold. I felt nothing. I had a very hard time caring. I get that it's a 'part one', but I thought it was a crazy weak script. As a standalone, the arcs are thin and the payoff is borderline absent. Couldn't find a moral for the life of me. I'm going to watch part two when it arrives, and I'll judge it differently as a whole, but as an individual work it got a huge shrug from me. I'm very fond of Villenueve, I went into this with the full expectations to praise it, but I was dead bored by the 90min mark.

Here's my LB review—

Quote:
I have surprisingly little to say about Dune.

It's one of the best sounding films I've ever heard. Enviously good. Absolutely floored by the audio mixing. Zimmer's score is obscenely strong. I am jealous.

The architectural designs are outstanding. All of them.
Gorgeous shots. Minimalistic, beautiful, harrowing.

That's it.

I felt nothing. This infinite scope of a Universe held the weight of a pea.


Which I whipped up maybe twenty minutes after watching it. It wasn't very thought through or insightful or anything, but my opinion hasn't changed since. I was absolutely unmoved by it. Luckily, by the sounds of it, I'm in the minority. I'm seeing praise everywhere, and there's massive Oscar buzz. All good though. Not everything's for everyone. If it makes anything clearer, I also don't care in the slightest about Star Wars, but I enjoyed this more than any of those films.

I'm hoping part two elevates it for me.
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EyeKanFly
Head Bear Master/Galactic Emperor



Age: 33
Location: Gotham
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  • #70
  • Posted: 11/01/2021 02:47
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Hayden wrote:
Quote:
Every time Dennis Villenueve has a new movie, it always seems to have tons of praise heaped on it, critically or by fans or otherwise. But somehow I've never seen anything he's done. I know I should watch Arrival, Sicario, and Blade Runner 2049, and now Dune. Maybe I'll check it out if I can get some IMAX tickets. The local IMAX theater has been closed for remodeling for a year or so, I'm concerned it'll even open back up again.


Yeah, I'd get on him. Start with... I'd say... Prisoners. Or perhaps his anti-capitalism short Next Floor. Arrival in particular needs a big screen. I think he's probably the most prolific director of the 2010s. His '10-'17 run is stronger than what most directors put out in an entire career. Hoping he finally ends up winning some awards here and there.

I just wasn't into Dune all that much.


I watched Next Floor, loved it. Prisoners is on deck. And I will say that every time he's had a movie come out, I've thought "oh this looks so cool, I should watch it"... but as luck would have it I never have. Guess I just have to do better at seeking out his movies. Well anyway, I have tickets to Dune now.

Also Hayden your review praising the music and architecture sold it enough for me. Perhaps I can be a movie simpleton, but I've come to realize that those are the two things I value most in a movie. Which is why I love Star Wars, La La Land, Inception, or even something like Inside where architecture is not the focus but is paramount. The original Blade Runner is usually THE movie cited when discussing architecture in film, and I did love that. So I should definitely see the sequel.
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