[Sentai]

For some reason I have The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on my DVR.. but can never sit down and watch it. I don't know why. I loved Lord of the Rings, except for Return of the King which had like 90 endings. I just can't get myself to sit down and watch it.
Or the other movies on there either.

[Locke]

Just watched Disconnect, an ensemble drama about our social media centred lives and about how we become further and further disconnected from one another, as we escape into our internet lives.

I think the internet is a beautiful thing. Disconnect doesn't. Our friendship pretty much ended there. I won't claim there aren't paedophiles, thieves, bullies and all the rest on the internet, of course there are. The rule of the universe is that for every positive charge, there has to be a negative one. So for all the great things we've done through the internet, like making the world smaller, sharing content, helping people find their place and all the rest, bad people have found ways to do their bad stuff easier. Disconnect isn't that grown up about it though, painting the internet as utterly rotten and only populated with bad people, doing bad stuff, for the sake of being evil. And whenever it feels like the film may grow up, and be less ranty and more mature about the internet, it takes something nice about the internet and deconstructs it until all is left is rotten. It's a constant downer, a constant pessimist, like those old farts who complain about kids and their smartphones, simply because they couldn't keep up with the world. It's hard to appreciate a movie where the writer puts himself on a soapbox and rants for two hours about something you don't agree with in the slightest. Oh yeah, and it all leads to this slow motion scene that is ridiculous and utterly stupid. So much so it's almost profound.

The weird thing as well, is the film paints these things are utterly necessary. Apparently cyber bullying, leading to a suicide attempt, is the way to bring a family closer together. Apparently having all your money stolen, is a way to bring a couple together. Apparently being exploited for child pornography is okay as long as you get free shoes. Fuck this movie.

The movie isn't all bad though, the actual performances from the cast are solid, and they do all they can with the bad material they are given. Easily the highlight of the film is Jason Bateman, a man I know for two things 1) being boring and 2) being in shit films, here puts in a stellar performance as a lawyer disconnected from his son, who is sent on a quest to find out why his son hurt himself while realising how disconnected he is along the way. He is utterly charming, utterly lovable and it's just an utterly enjoyable watch. Colin Ford, "The Supernatural Kid." is pretty fun in this narrative as well.

Equal to Bateman is Alexander Skarsgård, a former marine with an identity crisis as he finds himself now pushing papers. He used to be someone who mattered, now he is no one. To make matters worse, his son died, and he forced himself into emotional isolation which caused a disconnect with his wife. A wife who escapes online just for people to talk to.

Andrea Riseborough meanwhile is looking her absolutely sexiest as a reporter who finds herself diving deep into a child porn ring, unable to keep her emotions in check and getting utterly lost because of them along the way. I didn't found her narrative particularly interesting, mainly because she had to act alongside Max Thieriot, who is astoundingly bland in an otherwise very talented cast. Still though, Riseborough is looking her finest which still makes her scenes worth sitting through.

And Frank Grillo? He may as well be the closest thing the movie has to a villain, who is disliked to downright hated by characters in every single story. He is always trying to do the right thing, but he isn't sympathetic in the slightest and it's a shame because I really liked the actor.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sentai

For some reason I have The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on my DVR.. but can never sit down and watch it. I don't know why. I loved Lord of the Rings, except for Return of the King which had like 90 endings. I just can't get myself to sit down and watch it.
Or the other movies on there either.

Wouldn't you rather have a movie that goes through sending off every character after spending 3 years with them as opposed to spending 6 years with characters that have nothing more than like a 3 minute celebration scene with little to no dialog to send them off?

[Sentai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

Wouldn't you rather have a movie that goes through sending off every character after spending 3 years with them as opposed to spending 6 years with characters that have nothing more than like a 3 minute celebration scene with little to no dialog to send them off?

I'm rather the trilogy had one single ending and been done with it instead of twelve little miniones.

[Dr Kain]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sentai

I'm rather the trilogy had one single ending and been done with it instead of twelve little miniones.

Okay, but there was only one ending to the movie, it was when Sam returns home after saying good bye to Frodo and Gandalf. That was the ending, clear and simple.

And that is how the ending is in the book, only with more going on during it.

[Locke]

So I just watched this incredible movie called The Dirties. It presents itself as a found footage movie, only to then not reference the camera operators as people at all. And some scenes, despite being filmed in the same found footage way as the others, aren't apparently supposed to be part of the film any more, they are "real" life. The camera operators non existence is especially weird in some of the more brutal scenes where you're left questioning why someone would just stand there and film, and not help. It's equally weird of the bullies themselves, who seem quite happy to do their whole bully routine, on camera.

The main theme of the film is the concept of reality, and when reality stops being well...reality. Matt spends so much time filming the world or watching the filmed world that he is ultimately disconnected from reality. A form of chosen disconnection I assume, as I did similar things to escape, but it's more terrifying because he doesn't even seem aware of it himself. Then maybe the whole thing is meant to be just a film, we're supposed to accept that it really is all staged. We aren't supposed to believe Matt is a real person, who is doing real things, like in a narrative film, we're supposed to be aware of the artificial nature of it all and keep that constantly in mind. That is why breaking the fourth wall is rare and never by the people who should do it the most. But it's pretty mind blowing, and very frustrating, to try and pick where the lines of reality are and aren't drawn, and what devices are of deliberate intention and what aren't. But then maybe that is the point.

There are other themes as well, like that of friendship. Matt only ever dreams up the idea of a school shooting narrative to help his one and only friend, but Matt becomes so obsessed with the idea he pushes that friend away. The world of film is like a prison to Matt, keeping him constantly isolated.

This all leads to the most intense final ten or so minutes of a film I've ever seen, I was so tense and nervous that I actually felt physically sick. I don't think a movie has ever done that to me before.

It's all amateur actors to carry the film, but they put in great performances hitting the right drama and comedy notes. It probably helps that just all round it's a great script, it's well paced, the genres and tones balance well and hits a personal and emotional resonance. For an amateur effort especially, the quality of this film is just astounding.

If the movies intentions weren't so muddled (intentional or not) this'd easily be the best film of the year for me. As it stands, the film is fantastic on its own, astounding as an amateur effort and it's amazing that a couple of Canadian kids and a camera can make something deeper and more profound, than something Sundance have been jacking off over.

[KRX]

I just watched Thor: The Dark World. It took everything I liked about Thor and focused the story around that. Basically, I loved it.

[ElConvoy]

Finally watched The Wolverine....it was freakin awesome!!

I am so glad that there is finally a really good Wolverine flick.

[RiderSkyward]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

Of course I missed the point...

well, yeah. Maybe I’m reading your review wrong, but it comes across that you simply write it off as ‘I paid to see an Iron man film and all I got was Tony Stark.’ You also write off the ‘character study’ as just giving him PTSD, when there's much more to it than that (so the ‘point’).
See Tony is a cocky bastard and he suddenly feels massively inadequate next to aliens and ‘gods’. He’s a man that makes metal suits, and he almost failed to protect the one thing that matters to him. Feeling this, he builds crap loads of suits, trying to make each better and better, to cover any weakness or situation, and yet still feels like he isn’t doing enough. When Happy gets accidentally drawn into the fray Tony makes it personal by inviting them to his house (sure it was always going to get personal but until then nothing had been aimed at Tony). You call out a nutter, they’ll come for you. So his cockiness here sets him up for an even bigger fall. He mopes for a bit (he can’t hit the bottle as they did that in the last film…) has a bit of banter with a kid, who helps him realise that his suits are only as good as he is. He’s been relying on them, with all their strengths and weaknesses, instead of just using his head an being the best version of himself.
Hence the ending when he blows up all of his suits and removes his reactor/shrapnel.

If you found all of that boring then that’s fair enough, but to make out that the film does nothing is both wrong, and (from a review angle) misleading. It's certainly not perfect, I have my own personal problems with it, but not seeing enough Iron Man isn't one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KRX

How does it ruin Pepper? If anything, I thought that she was at her best in this film.

Man... you guys are making me feel badly about liking this movie.

Yeah pepper actually does something more than be Tony's secretary. She shows that she can run a company without Tony's help,and just how strong she is. Plus she's just all kinds of badass hotness at the end (Both literally and figuratively =p)

And there's really no need to feel bad for liking the film. I will proudly say it is my favourite Iron Man film and also my favourite out of the MCU.

[Sentai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

Okay, but there was only one ending to the movie, it was when Sam returns home after saying good bye to Frodo and Gandalf. That was the ending, clear and simple.

And that is how the ending is in the book, only with more going on during it.

Or, you can accept I'm allowed to not like something