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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Tue May 19, 2015 11:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: The trailer seemed to be pitching the movie to 14 year olds, and consisted entirely of eye-popping and eardrum-shattering CGI dominated action. I would skip it but of course they had me at "Charlize."
Those kind of trailers make all action movies look alike. Of course I've been disappointed before and wil be again, but for the time being I'm salivating. The word on this one is not just good, it's mind-blowing. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 5:05 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Well, once again I've been somewhat disappointed. Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the most technically accomplished and astonishing achievements in memory, and yet, and yet...I'm not a fan.
There is virtually no emotional content to this non-stop cartoon-violent car chase in a dystopian future, and virtually no acting that does more than scratch a very distinctive-looking surface. The music is stunning, the editing is superhuman, the photography is eye-boggling, and the direction is a genuine amazement. But the overall effect is numbing and ultimately monotonous and boring. All the movie is about is a car chase. What???
Despite the fact that this is without any remote competition the loudest movie I've ever heard...I snoozed off once in a while. Now that's an achievement. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 9:54 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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No weird gyro captain who misses lingerie? No wild kid who goes nuts over a windup music box? No dog?
I'll just watch my "Road Warrior" disk again. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 10:23 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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| I'm impressed that Bill can sleep through loud movies. Too bad it fell short. Surely "I fell asleep" is one of the worst possible pans of an action movie. |
Last edited by bartist on Wed May 20, 2015 6:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed May 20, 2015 5:37 pm |
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Joined: 30 Oct 2014
Posts: 278
Location: Winnipeg: It's a dry cold.
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billyweeds wrote: Well, once again I've been somewhat disappointed. Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the most technically accomplished and astonishing achievements in memory, and yet, and yet...I'm not a fan.
There is virtually no emotional content to this non-stop cartoon-violent car chase in a dystopian future, and virtually no acting that does more than scratch a very distinctive-looking surface. The music is stunning, the editing is superhuman, the photography is eye-boggling, and the direction is a genuine amazement. But the overall effect is numbing and ultimately monotonous and boring. All the movie is about is a car chase. What???
Despite the fact that this is without any remote competition the loudest movie I've ever heard...I snoozed off once in a while. Now that's an achievement.
I saw it yesterday and I liked it. I'd give it a 3 1/2 or maybe 4. It was virtually a movie full of action and amazing (strange) vehicles. Smashing, crashing, bashing, flashing, mudding etc. etc. Charlize Theron was the best in the movie.
Of course it could have been better but I enjoyed the wild visuals and the weird characters so much that I kept watching it and had a very good time. |
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Big bang, shmig bang; still doesn't explain how anything starts. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 4:44 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Gary is clearly in the majority on Mad Max: Fury Road. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 5:15 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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| I've completely given up watching action blockbusters and comic book movies. They just don't interest me at all. I can't imagine a full-length movie car chase being my kind of thing. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 10:27 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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| I get bored by the macho blockbusters too, but "The Road Warrior" (a.k.a. "Mad Max 2") grabbed me and is still in my top ten (depending on my mood, it can be in my top three). Mel Gibson may have lost luster over the years for several reasons, but Max stands forever. It's one of the few films that makes me laugh, cry, hold my breath, applaud. I think I saw it a dozen times in theaters (sitting in the middle, getting the full effect of the terrific final chase), and dragged friends to see it as well. The fact that the same director did "Fury Road" gave me some incentive to see the remake, but I think I'll just WFC. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 10:46 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Is it a remake? Mabe that's why I didn't quite get the set-up, because I never saw any of the originals. Will have to play catch-up now. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 3:40 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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| I don't know if it's literally a remake, but the TV ads certainly gave me that impression. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 5:04 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Am I ever gonna like another movie again? Another hit, another huge disappointment. Not that I really expected the a cappella musical Pitch Perfect 2 to totally rock my world, but It's quite a bit worse than I feared. To be fair: when the cute young people sing, there are quite a few semi-entertaining moments. But that's far less than half the time. The rest of the time we are stuck in a morass of terrible dialogue delivered badly by most of the actors.
Two important exceptions are Anna Kendrick, who plays the leading role in her by-now patented style of adorable underacting, and Keegan-Michael Key (of the ace comedy duo Key & Peele) playing the stupid role of a tough record producer and making it almost work.
But the charisma of Kendrick and Key is only occasionally visible in this seriously inept musical sequel to the cult hit Pitch Perfect, which I didn't love but quite enjoyed a lot of the time. Critics agreed: this sequel upped the ante on the original. Not true. The writer and director Elizabeth Banks have coasted on the good will engendered by the first film and done a genuinely lazy job.
Case in point is their use of Rebel Wilson, the obese Australian actress playing "Fat Amy," the breakout star of the first PP. Her role is mainly confined to fast cuts of her making snarky comments. Wilson was fine in Bridesmaids, where she had a very small, very incidental, and very funny role. Now that she's a cult figure and a role model for overweight teens, she's unbearable.
Banks herself, who I've loved on screen in the past, plays one of the two judges of the a cappella contests which bookend the film, and she's lousy in the role, as is John Michael Higgins, her co-judge. Banks and Higgins are recycling a shtick that Fred Willard patented in Best in Show and made into something great. Here the stuff falls flat as a pancake.
Finally, do these people not know what a cappella is? These kids are constantly backed up by musical tracks. In my experience, a cappella means no music track at all. What Glee hath wrought! |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 6:06 pm |
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Joined: 30 Oct 2014
Posts: 278
Location: Winnipeg: It's a dry cold.
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| Good review Billy. I was thinking of seeing this movie but decided that I didn't think I would like it. Now I'm sure I wouldn't like it. I might see the Furious 7 or Avengers or both. I have to catch up on some movies. |
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Big bang, shmig bang; still doesn't explain how anything starts. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 6:09 pm |
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Joined: 30 Oct 2014
Posts: 278
Location: Winnipeg: It's a dry cold.
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Oh yeah, your are right about what cappella is. You know that of course.  |
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Big bang, shmig bang; still doesn't explain how anything starts. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 6:10 pm |
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Joined: 30 Oct 2014
Posts: 278
Location: Winnipeg: It's a dry cold.
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| Isn't there a word acappella? |
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Big bang, shmig bang; still doesn't explain how anything starts. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri May 22, 2015 7:55 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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| A capella means "as in the chapel," referring to the tradition that sacred music was sung without instrumental accompaniment. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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