[KRX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

Finally got around to watching Iron Man 3. The weirdest thing about Iron Man Three is it feels nothing like an Iron Man movie. Stark is rarely in a suit, and even when he is, he is quickly taken out of it. Some of the biggest action scenes involve him out of a suit all together, and who takes down the big bad? Pepper. Honestly the Iron Man suits just sort of feel like cameos in their own movie, there to please the audience rather than be part of the narrative.

I wouldn't have minded that if the character stuff in this movie was good, but the movie is far too stupid to create a compelling character drama. Stark having panic attacks doesn't count as a character study, it counts a novelty and a cheap one at that.

I guess at least The Wolverine wont be getting the title of 'closest thing to a boring superhero film' title this year.

To the film's credit, it did portray post-traumatic stress disorder with incredible accuracy.

[Locke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KRX

To the film's credit, it did portray post-traumatic stress disorder with incredible accuracy.

In what universe?

[Locke]

Just watched Pain & Gain.

Pain & Gain is Spring Breakers for idiots, but then Bay sorta fucks it up. You see the thing is, Spring Breakers was a fantastic movie, but Korine was so focused on making art and cared so little about anyone actually watching his art, he alienated pretty much everyone without a deep filmic knowledge in the audience. Bay tries his hardest to make Spring Breakers more accessible, by turning it into a comedy and placing absolutely nothing between the lines at all and for a time...it works, it works very well.

I know it's cool to hate on Bay, but I actually sort of appreciate just how much fun this guy wants to have with his audience, yeah his movies are often kinda stupid, and he doesn't care about grown men still collecting Transformers toys. But films should first and foremost entertain and he is an entertainer, and a good one at that.

The problems however arise, as the film moves from the first act and into the second. That is really where it clicks, our protagonists are deranged psychopaths. They are so stupid, they don't seem intimidating at all, they are just cute and fun to laugh at, but by the end of the first act swinging into the second, these men grow increasingly more desperate, and a dog backed into a corner will take the craziest measures to survive. And they take some pretty fucked up measures, while Bay still tries his hardest to play them for laughs, which makes it all the more unsettling.

Stupid people like safe movies, but what Bay reveals to his audience, just when he gets them comfortable, is that Pain & Gain isn't a safe movie. At least, not safe all the way through, Bay is actually willing to take risks. Compared to Spring Breakers Pain & Gain has the depth of a sheet of paper, but on its own merits as a popcorn flick for Average Joe, Pain & Gain revels in the moral grey. A world where brutal violence is played for all its messy brutality, but in a tone that suggests Bay finds violence hilarious, like an episode of Tom and Jerry but with all the gore left in, where people really get hurt and there are actual consequences.

And then, our psychopaths win. Sure their stupidity makes the whole thing come apart by the end again, so it isn't like evil wins the day, but for a time being evil reaps a lot of reward and I can imagine that for a while, Pain & Gain will probably alienate its audience as much as Spring Breakers did. Just not for as long.

[KRX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

In what universe?

There was an article from Psychology Today that analyzed Tony for symptoms of PTSD. I'll post a link after I get back from school.

[Powerman293]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

In what universe?

The marvel cinematic universe

[Locke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powerman293

The marvel cinematic universe

[Locke]

Just watched Upstream Color, it pains me to spell colour wrong.

Carruth gave purpose in his other directorial effort to make it as complex as possible, here, the complexity feels out of place. Is it a love story? A thriller? A sci-fi? A horror? I have no fucking idea. What I do know is it is slow, boring, and pretentiously panders to such extent that the movie loses all purpose and meaning.

I have no problems with art cinema, I have no problems with abstract cinema, but when it's so abstract it's barely cohesive then I'm sorry you can't expect me to honestly say it's good. The best art films provide more than pretty visuals, the worst think that is all they need.

And the saddest thing is, the narrative is so utterly simple you could have made this without all the pretentious waffling and it actually would have probably been a better film for it.

And there are rare moments where the fog clears, and it seems the movie is doing something special, but them movie itself seems so unclear on what it is doing that you can't help but wonder if you're so bored you're just creating your own narrative that the film deserves no credit for. Blah.

[KRX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Powerman293

The marvel cinematic universe

Nice.

And the promised link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/...-in-iron-man-3

[RiderSkyward]

I kinda think you've missed the point with Iron man 3 Locke... Each to their own interpretation and all that though.

Just watched Hunger Games ,only because I've started a new job and as it's a new store we're going to watch catching fire as a treat for getting it all set up. Otherwise I probably never would have...

Now it's not a terrible film, but it's also not brilliant. Everything feels very... Minimal I guess. Like, they set things up that have no/little relevance later, or they just don't explain at all. Shot wise it's a mixed bag as well, I cba to look up who actually did it but I'd take a stab at they're fairly new and were almost trying to prove something. It's tone is also odd, with these eccentric colourful, heck almost cartoon characters in a frankly dark tale. The crowds in the Capitol tie with the cardboard cut-out like things in early FIFA/generic sports games for least realistic crowd.

Things that are going for the film? It does some decent cgi. Jennifer Lawrence. The drunken marketer guy, I liked him better drunk though. It's also clearly building to something bigger, so hopefully tomorrow's viewing will help a little (not that that's a good excuse...)

[Locke]

Of course I missed the point...