The Movie Thread
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Against my better judgment, I tried to watch Noah (2014) because I like the cast, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone and Emma Thompson, and I thought there might be something interesting to see in the Hollywood version of this story, but I was soon disappointed.
The first half was barely watchable and I wanted to see where they'd go with this thing, but through the entire movie they never said God, only "the creator". May as well have said The Great Architect, lol.
They made the film's messaging into an anti-human, carbon savior story where Noah was fighting for the beasts and glorious snail darters, but Tubal-cain, descendant of Cain, who was played by Sexy Beast (2000) star Ray Winstone, was a horrible, wicked, selfish brute interested only in the continuance of the race of man, so if you don't want to off yourself in order for the polar bears to have better igloos, then you're evil just like Cain.
Apparently they pulled some plot devices out of the Book of Enoch, so there were hideous stone giant demons, The Watchers, who ended up building the ark at Noah's direction and were then forgiven by "the creator" and sucked back up to heaven. I stopped watching soon after that.
The first half was barely watchable and I wanted to see where they'd go with this thing, but through the entire movie they never said God, only "the creator". May as well have said The Great Architect, lol.
They made the film's messaging into an anti-human, carbon savior story where Noah was fighting for the beasts and glorious snail darters, but Tubal-cain, descendant of Cain, who was played by Sexy Beast (2000) star Ray Winstone, was a horrible, wicked, selfish brute interested only in the continuance of the race of man, so if you don't want to off yourself in order for the polar bears to have better igloos, then you're evil just like Cain.
Apparently they pulled some plot devices out of the Book of Enoch, so there were hideous stone giant demons, The Watchers, who ended up building the ark at Noah's direction and were then forgiven by "the creator" and sucked back up to heaven. I stopped watching soon after that.
I wouldn't be surprised if they made it this bad intentionally in order to dissuade people away from the Bible. The plot is so bad it's a parody of the real story. The demons are the good guys and God is the bad guy for sending the flood.
And Noah wants to literally annihilate all of mankind, including his own family, whom he promised to murder in great detail during one scene.
He rattled off the order he wanted each family member to bury the other as some kind of inversion of those Bible passages where they list the genealogies.
I searched the forum and found this thread, wondering if anyone had mentioned Philip K Dick, who was quite an interesting person and writer. Of course, the point of departure was my avatar. I also recalled that he had an experience after taking sodium thiopental/pentothal (truth serum) which apparently was prescribed as a pain medication for a tooth removal. The woman who delivered him the drug was wearing an ichthys necklace and within a short time he had an "experience", which you can read more about in the Exegesis of Philip Dick:
Interestingly enough, a Greek man posted this about the word, which is a word that is actually in the Septuagint, and it was used as a reference for ritual sacrifice (the memory component of someone is in modern cultures and in ancient ones) and is of course the word used in the line "Do this in remembrance of me". Also of interest is that some of these words, and this is a case of it, were ancient greek philosophical terms, with particular meanings in the philosophic system (Plato in this case, "recollection"). The jews who translated the scriptures, justlike the christians who used these terms, eventually used them in a context that was in a sense, christianized, since of course they were not Platonists. It was almost forced in that sense, since the Hellenic influence somewhat forced the hand of the Old/New Testament writers, at least in (translations to) Greek.
Yes, that's why those who studied Plato labeled it "recollection", but it is interesting how "lack of forgetting" conveys something slightly different, but at the same time can coincide with the meaning.So, last night I started reading the Divine Invasion. I think it may be the first time I'm reading it in English, so I guess it was easy to miss Dick's mistake the first times around, reading it in Greek.
In the book's opening, Dick defines Anamnesis as the "loss of amnesia". This is actually wrong. Dick seems to think that anamnesis is formed by the negative "an" and "amnesia", hence the "lifting of amnesia".
However, the word is formed from "ana", meaning again, and "mnimi", memory. Therefore, to remember again.
Really a minor tidbit, but I thought I'd share
In any case, I of course love Blade Runner and found going through the wiki there is much I forgot about it "Did you know?" was cool, and parts of Blade Runner 2049 were explained that I probably didn't pick up the first time or second I saw that "sequel".
Been watching scary movies recently as it’s Halloween season.
- Oddity was a good creepy flick worth checking out.
- Him was complete garbage, don’t waste your time with that one.
- The Damned was a well made 1800’s period-piece movie set in Iceland that I highly recommend. Was a slow burn and creepy, but well made, solid acting and scenery shots and filming was done well.
- Bring Her Back - Very disturbing, great tension between the characters and well made. Worth checking out.
- Oddity was a good creepy flick worth checking out.
- Him was complete garbage, don’t waste your time with that one.
- The Damned was a well made 1800’s period-piece movie set in Iceland that I highly recommend. Was a slow burn and creepy, but well made, solid acting and scenery shots and filming was done well.
- Bring Her Back - Very disturbing, great tension between the characters and well made. Worth checking out.
Been doing the same with Haloween coming up. I find it's hard to find good scary movies anymore. One I recently came across that I found entertaining was The Ritual (2017). Due to distribution rights it only seems to be available on Netflix though.
The film is about four friends who go on a hike though the woods in Sweden in remembrance of one of their buddies who recently died. As they pass through the woods they end up being hunted one by one by a creature that lives in the forest. Even though the premise sounds pretty formulaic I thought it was done well in terms of building suspense.
You Won't Be Alone (2022) is a scary foreign film with an interesting plot I've never seen before that's fairly deep into demonology without being explicit or having any direct exposition on the topic.
There are a couple of graphic, but brief sex scenes and I think some minimal nudity IIRC, but since it's Macedonian, it's not typical Hollywood titillation. However, if lust is an issue and can be easily triggered, give this one a pass.
There is a high gross-out factor with this movie. It's not terribly gorey, but the demonic plot device is not something you'll soon forget.
There are a couple of graphic, but brief sex scenes and I think some minimal nudity IIRC, but since it's Macedonian, it's not typical Hollywood titillation. However, if lust is an issue and can be easily triggered, give this one a pass.
There is a high gross-out factor with this movie. It's not terribly gorey, but the demonic plot device is not something you'll soon forget.
Not going to lie, all these "white people summoning demons in the European countryside" movies are really making me reconsider how I view European folklore. These subhuman freaks really don't want white people gathering in the woods and expressing themselves.
I rewatched THE WORLD'S End from 2013 starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
The first 30 minutes of the movie were so well done. The way they built up this joyous youthful drinking adventure of teenager years and then cut to modern times where main man GARY KING hasn't grown up and is still chasing the dragon. Meanwhile all his mates have moved on and he goes around persuading them to join to complete an unfinishd pub crawl from those days. It reminds me of heist movies where they try to persuade the crew to join and get the band together so to speak.
All are reluctant but Gary King (Pegg) has that humour and charm or even just no-BS persona that only someone on the fringes of society, sobriety and mental health can have. The trade off for freedom is often addiction. But the sacrifice for freedom often is to lose youthful exuberance. It can be done without losing yourself completely but for many that's not the case.
The power of this character is yes we all KNOW a Gary King but inside of all of us IS a Gary King - we want to be able to waltz through life with no major attachments and seek pleasure and FUN. Or many of us do. Yet the compromises we make often end up cutting off that part of the self.
All his mates are in either boring or failed marriages and corporate roles. They are the antithesis to KING. Yes, they have stability but at what cost? Stiff and uptight in massive contrast to King's bravado, even though it serves to hide massive delusion and a different kind of pain of being STUCK IN THE PAST. Can't repeat the past, Gatsby said, why OF COURSE YOU CAN! King is a kind of Gatsby vagabond without the money. Classic trickster archetype but fallen out of society. He could be in a Mike Leigh movie. What the writing does so well is alude to all this pain yet smother it with humour and the peppy charm that made the previous Pegg and Wright collabs sing.
The power in this opening 30 minutes is the characterization and quips but also? The NOSTALGIA made more powerful with 90s music choices, amazing editing. Even the classic -a gang of buddies walking to music (immortalized by Reservoir Dogs) is done. The movie has charm and it has a VIBE that is so strong.
Then it veers off into this alien/robot fight end of the world nonsense I have no interest in.
I just pretend the first 30 minutes it a short film and it's a 10 but the finished thing is like a 6.5. I'm not even going to talk about the Body Snatchers mixed with WWE wrestling that must be endured for the final hour. It turns into a different film completely.
I honestly wish they'd done it as a pub crawl where all these aspects of the past are faced as they go through the pub and maybe the WORLD'S END was a personal reckoning with addiction and the costs of growing up.
The fact that Edgar Wright cannot write an interesting script without boring genre mash ups overwhelming the story is evidenced by his post Pegg collab efforts.
And the thing is? They already did the genre mash up perfectly on SHAUN OF THE DEAD (zombies) and HOT FUZZ (murder mystery and who dunnit?)
I think one of the problems is that the Body Snatchers sci-fi thing is a relatively niche genre anyway. But even worse, this SHOULD have been a personal film. They could have still done the fight scene action movie parody stuff through fantasy or flash backs (like Spaced) but man, what a waste.
The first 30 minutes of the movie were so well done. The way they built up this joyous youthful drinking adventure of teenager years and then cut to modern times where main man GARY KING hasn't grown up and is still chasing the dragon. Meanwhile all his mates have moved on and he goes around persuading them to join to complete an unfinishd pub crawl from those days. It reminds me of heist movies where they try to persuade the crew to join and get the band together so to speak.
All are reluctant but Gary King (Pegg) has that humour and charm or even just no-BS persona that only someone on the fringes of society, sobriety and mental health can have. The trade off for freedom is often addiction. But the sacrifice for freedom often is to lose youthful exuberance. It can be done without losing yourself completely but for many that's not the case.
The power of this character is yes we all KNOW a Gary King but inside of all of us IS a Gary King - we want to be able to waltz through life with no major attachments and seek pleasure and FUN. Or many of us do. Yet the compromises we make often end up cutting off that part of the self.
All his mates are in either boring or failed marriages and corporate roles. They are the antithesis to KING. Yes, they have stability but at what cost? Stiff and uptight in massive contrast to King's bravado, even though it serves to hide massive delusion and a different kind of pain of being STUCK IN THE PAST. Can't repeat the past, Gatsby said, why OF COURSE YOU CAN! King is a kind of Gatsby vagabond without the money. Classic trickster archetype but fallen out of society. He could be in a Mike Leigh movie. What the writing does so well is alude to all this pain yet smother it with humour and the peppy charm that made the previous Pegg and Wright collabs sing.
The power in this opening 30 minutes is the characterization and quips but also? The NOSTALGIA made more powerful with 90s music choices, amazing editing. Even the classic -a gang of buddies walking to music (immortalized by Reservoir Dogs) is done. The movie has charm and it has a VIBE that is so strong.
Then it veers off into this alien/robot fight end of the world nonsense I have no interest in.
I just pretend the first 30 minutes it a short film and it's a 10 but the finished thing is like a 6.5. I'm not even going to talk about the Body Snatchers mixed with WWE wrestling that must be endured for the final hour. It turns into a different film completely.
I honestly wish they'd done it as a pub crawl where all these aspects of the past are faced as they go through the pub and maybe the WORLD'S END was a personal reckoning with addiction and the costs of growing up.
The fact that Edgar Wright cannot write an interesting script without boring genre mash ups overwhelming the story is evidenced by his post Pegg collab efforts.
And the thing is? They already did the genre mash up perfectly on SHAUN OF THE DEAD (zombies) and HOT FUZZ (murder mystery and who dunnit?)
I think one of the problems is that the Body Snatchers sci-fi thing is a relatively niche genre anyway. But even worse, this SHOULD have been a personal film. They could have still done the fight scene action movie parody stuff through fantasy or flash backs (like Spaced) but man, what a waste.
Did they really make a movie about glorifying antifa?
Iakobos
Orthodox
PTA is in my top 3 of most talented filmmakers of all time but he has been downhill since Phantom Thread. This is his first film that I will not have seen in the cinema since TWBB. I'll probably check it out when it's online and reserve judgment until then but by all accounts of this film it seems like he's under the leftist mindvirus.
No desire to watch this lame looking film. Licorice pizza didn't look good either and haven't seen Inherent Vice.
He made some very strong films early in his career but I think he lacks storytelling skills and he's become more and more self-indulgent.
Iakobos
Orthodox
I def wouldn't bother with Licorice Pizza, Inherent Vice has some interesting themes on the failures of the hippie movement but it's ultimately fairly absurdist and intentionally confusing to make you feel 'stoned' as the main character while trying to process what's going on. Which is a cool trick creatively but not really satisfying either compared to his earlier work as you say.
There Will be Blood is one of the best movies I've ever seen but that new flick by Anderson looks like trash. The whole comedic violence trope has been done over and over again that it's just not worth my time. Plus DiCaprio and Del Toro look like they're just phoning their performances in after seeing that trailer.
I noticed an interesting ongoing thesis he was working out in his movies from Hard Eight up until The Master of surrogate families or how with the decimation of the family unit various types of replacements are found (or not). I feel he has somewhat dropped that especially in recent years and I got the sense with all the various ways of looking at that it was ultimately an important topic for him. Filmmakers are at their best when they're working out something personal. In recent years it looks as if he's become a mere stylist.
The new 2025 Frankenstein film (on Netflix), was pretty spectacular. IMO should be at minimum nominated for several Academy Awards categories if Hollywood politics don’t snub or ignore the film. I’m not a Del Toro fan boy, but he’s made a few pretty good films over the decades. Some misses as well. Of the OG horror themes (Wolfman/ Dracula - Nosferatu / Frankenstein / Mummy etc)…. I think this one may be the best made to date.