[This Machine Kills Fascis]

[This Machine Kills Fascis]

Re: Micheal Bay

Man, I completely space out during action set pieces. I really need to be grounded in character reactions for events on screen to mean anything to me, so when shit is exploding, cars are running into each other, and shots are cutting from one to the other like a strobe light I get literally nothing out of it. I usually can't even remember what happened afterward.

So my opinions on American action set piece movies are always, like, "Blar blar blar, why did they waste my time?" I guess you have to imagine what it would be like to watch a Micheal Bay movie with all the action scenes replaced with blips of white. That's pretty much my experience. All I'm left with is the the overbearing music and the mediocre plot, dialogue, and acting.

That's not to say that I think films need to be narrative or that the merit of a film necessarily comes from its narrative, or that I get nothing out of the aesthetics of a film. (That would probably impede me from enjoying a lot of great movies. Tarkovsky's a good example.) It's that to me explosions and things colliding aren't interesting, especially since the way they're shot is often pretty cliche. And generally I'm more attracted to composition than spectacle. I literally don't enjoy fireworks, but when the cinematography of a scene is really specific it's just...I dunno, nice.

So for whatever reason, I'm just not programmed to appreciate a Micheal Bay movie.

I do like crazy kung-fu movies, though, because the exchange of power dynamics and technique is so direct and obvious; I can follow the drama of it.

[This Machine Kills Fascis]

Guys, can we start calling Micheal Bay "The Bay"?
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"Godzilla could be anyone."

[This Machine Kills Fascis]

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Wait, it's not a remake? Huh.

Just...huh.
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"Godzilla could be anyone."

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Do people know that they can create movies with new stories?

Like, you can literally just pay some other guy to do the writing.
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"Godzilla could be anyone."

[This Machine Kills Fascis]

Every true Silent Running fan refuses to watch it on any format other than Laser Disc.
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"Godzilla could be anyone."

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Neat.

I hope the script's good.
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"Godzilla could be anyone."

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I found Pan's Labyrinth to be pretty "meh," (which was a bit of a let down).

I honestly can't remember much from it, though. I'm gonna count that as a strike against it, since a lot of great movies have scenes that seem to haunt or obsess me for the rest of my life.
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"Godzilla could be anyone."

[This Machine Kills Fascis]

Saw Tabloid tonight. It's definitely a pretty crazy story, but as a film I thought it was pretty "meh."

There was a sort of overbearing score throughout, providing straight-forward emotions for moments that I think should have been left ambiguous. I mean, part of the point of the movie is to conflate various truths, so I don't want music telling me when something is creepy and when something is funny.

Morris makes an attempt to spice it up, visually, but ultimately it's nearly 2 straight hours of talking heads.

I'd recommend it, but I wouldn't say it's a classic must-see.

I mean, it's kind of like a particularly memorable This American Life episode without any of the heart. Yeah, I think that's the best summary I can muster.
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"Godzilla could be anyone."

[This Machine Kills Fascis]

I actually went to see Cave of Forgotten Dreams, but it was sold out :/

I might go today if I can rope someone into it. I'm not a fan of going to movies alone, but the guy at IFC said he couldn't guarantee that it would run for more than another week; so I may have to!

Again, Tabloid wasn't bad, but I was a little disappointed that I went from going to see a movie that I will only be able to fully appreciate in theaters to seeing a movie that wouldn't be at all diminished if I watched it on my computer a month or so later.

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"Wargames" holds up beautifully, if you can handle mediocre direction.

Man, these 80's movies for teens are a lot less condescending than contemporary movies for everyone.
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"Godzilla could be anyone."

[This Machine Kills Fascis]

Wait, were two pages just excised from this thread in the last five or so hours?