The Movie House - Part 11

Firenze wrote:Dune was thoroughly mediocre

Can't have a more different opinion

Dune was amazing, best cinema experience in like 2 years, can't wait to see part 2 and even watch this one again.

@CBarca it didn't lack a plot, it just lacked in-depth character building. Dune is just a dense book with an expansive world that's why Part 1 comes off as purely a foundational movie - there's only so much you can fit into 2 hrs and 30 mins. But like i said that's more because it's difficult to adapt the novel on-screen. I feel like it's best screen form would be as a TV series adaptation.

But i'm hopeful Part Two will be better overall.

Watched Dune. Technically it was a great ride, with mesmerizing photography, sound, sets and production values.

But emotionally it was totally flat. Didn't care about any of the characters or their wants/desires by the end (I still don't know what Paul wants). And after 2.5 hours that's unforgivable.

The third act in particular was all action and would've been better served to cut those scenes in half and spend some time with the actual characters. Too epic too soon.

The plot was completely predictable too (I never read the books), but I'll give that a pass since we have been watching things inspired by Dune for the past 50 years.

Watched Dune just now too.

Honestly I felt great after watching it. It was quite a long film but at no point it felt dragged and that largely might be due to it being a visual spectacle. I mean every scene felt like worth investing in. However I would also say that it was pretty much a 20 minute story done in a 2h45m film. The arc was quite incomplete at the end of it. Like the film just stopped.

I share EG's thoughts on this one. The film was made entirely for the purpose of setting the foundation. But i wish they had fleshed out the characters and the factions a bit more.

I like how Jason Mamoa plays khal drogo in every film he does at this point.

Firenze wrote:Dune was thoroughly mediocre

Did you watch it at home? i think it's a film that needs to be appreciated better in cinema honestly.

I dreamed of Dune after watching it. Like literally dreamed of scenes from this movie. Not that I was in it. Just the movie itself. That is such a rare thing and it only happens with movies I have deep love for aesthetically. This is the 2nd Villenueve film to make that group (Arrival was the first).

I'm not going to disagree on the plot. It wasn't strong. It never has been honestly. It's why Star Wars derived much of its plot from Dune imo. The plot doesn't make those movies great. Everything else does.

My favorite performance from Part 1? Javier Bardem as Stilgar. Loved all of his scenes.

Watched free guy. 5.5 out of 10.
Watched Coda. 6.5 out of 10.

Watched Mortal Kombat ( the new one ). as expected laughable acting and storyline but the fight scenes were actually good. so 6.5 out 10 just for the fight scenes.

I frankly didn't mind it at all. Was a good watch though I did miss the hamfisted campyness of the '90s version.

The Harder They Fall (7/10)

It is not the best western I have seen, but it is one of the more fun ones. There is a fair amount of stylish camp to it. Historically, it is wildly inaccurate and that's despite many of the main characters actually existing in real life.

Those who despise "woke" culture will probably find a lot to not like about this. For those of us who just appreciate seeing black cinema in a genre that has been super duper whitewashed, this was quite an achievement.

The standout star? LaKeith Stanfield and it's not even close. Stole every scene he was in and his dialogue was the best written and the best performed. Just a fun actor to watch in just about everything I've seen in him so far.

think it's safe to say at this point that LaKeith is one of the best young actors today

Did not disappoint as Yasuke as well. Hell I even liked him as L in the Death Note live action movie and that was garbage.

Probably my favorite movie he's been in is Sorry to Bother You.

For me it's Knives Out, but i love Sorry to Bother You too. Both ranked in my top 30 of the 2010s list.
Knives Out - 11th
Sorry to Bother You - 29th

For me his best movie is Judas And The Black Messiah.

Mmmm i despise woke culture but i love westerns. Curious to see which one will prevail.

El Gunner wrote:For me it's Knives Out, but i love Sorry to Bother You too. Both ranked in my top 30 of the 2010s list.
Knives Out - 11th
Sorry to Bother You - 29th

This take is really interesting. His role in knives out is super minor imo. He gets a fair amount of screentime, sure, but his character is not really super impactful. He's just a side lackey to Benoit Blanc for the most part.

He does well in the role but it's, to me, not a memorable role. I don't even remember his name in it.

^^yea of course, out of pure technicality of being in the movie i just had to mention that of all the movies he has been in Knives Out is my favourite.

if i were to rank his roles it would be:
Atlanta
Sorry to Bother You
Judas
Uncut Gems
Knives Out

Judas is a massive shout. He was superb in that as well. Arguably better than Kaluuya, but that's REALLY debatable. Atlanta was the first thing I saw him in and instantly knew he was going to go onto bigger things.

The Harder They Fall is a good film, i rate it B+

Excellent soundtrack, good actors and therefore good characters, the scenery looked a bit cheapo but it was actually a positive as it made the scenes more lively than usual westerns

Not sure what was woke in this film. Probably our definition of woke is not the same. Surely some people are triggered to see a cast where all relevant characters are black. Well to me it's what makes the film coherent with its own style, it allows to be different without breaking all the codes. Also i chuckled when i saw the "white town"

McLewis wrote:Judas is a massive shout. He was superb in that as well. Arguably better than Kaluuya, but that's REALLY debatable. Atlanta was the first thing I saw him in and instantly knew he was going to go onto bigger things.

First thing I saw him in was Straight Outta Compton. Even that cameo was memorable. Had Snoop's cadence down to a tee.

I thought Idris Elba and Delroy Lindo had the coolest roles

And we know who will play as KRS-One if they ever make a film about him (they definitely should) it will be Jonathan Majors, the resemblance is striking

Watched Godfather. it seems i can't connect with old movies.

My favorite film of all time. But i don't think i enjoyed the first watch that much, it's only after i read the book that i realized the masterpiece it is.

The 2 is also very good
The 3 was even better than the 2 imo if it wasn't of that incestuous sub-plot

I recently found a very extended version of the trilogy with 20-30 extra scenes i had never seen. What's amazing is how close this version is accurate to the book. Also an alternate version of Godfather 3 where scenes are in different order.

Warrior wrote:I thought Idris Elba and Delroy Lindo had the coolest roles

And we know who will play as KRS-One if they ever make a film about him (they definitely should) it will be Jonathan Majors, the resemblance is striking

The guy Lindo plays, Bass Reeves, was the first black Deputy US Marshal. An absolutely legendary lawman.

Reeves should have his own big budget biopic. He's a fascinating historical figure.

My choice for who to play him would probably be Yahya Abdul Mateen II or Mahershala Ali

El Gunner wrote:^^yea of course, out of pure technicality of being in the movie i just had to mention that of all the movies he has been in Knives Out is my favourite.

if i were to rank his roles it would be:
Atlanta
Sorry to Bother You
Judas
Uncut Gems
Knives Out

Oh I misunderstood, I thought you were saying that was his best role. You were saying it's the favorite film of yours that he's in. I agree with that