What did you watch today? v 33.0

[The Professor]

Welcome to version 33, the Egg McMuffin of discussions. 

 

The first post in this thread will be # 14,394. 

 

The ghost of George Sanders reminds you to link your films, and that one should feel free to move on if bored. 

[Knaldskalle]

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. Or "How Hollywood Fucked Up a Classic Comic Book Part IX".  Damn! I had high hopes, but they were thwarted by a Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson who manage to get the look right, but totally mess up the content (see also Snyder, Zack). I don't know if Spielberg has gotten too old or if Peter Jackson ultimately had too much influence on him, but the movie just descends into a string of overly long, overly complex, overly choreographed chase scenes that do nothing to propel the story forward, do nothing for the characters and ultimately serve no purpose other than the passing of runtime (see also Jackson's King Kong remake and Spielberg's Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). What we lose is the charm of the characters, the charm of innocent adventure and the original plots. This movie is basically a mash-up of 2 comic books, The Crab with the Golden Claws and The Secret of the Unicorn with some serious liberties taken by the script writers and a complete shift in focus, a new villain (who was only a minor supporting character in the comic books, and not even remotely villainous) and endless over-the-top mindless action. Well, at least they got the look right... Sigh.

[Snorii]

"overly long, overly complex, overly choreographed chase scenes that do nothing to propel the story forward, do nothing for the characters and ultimately serve no purpose other than the passing of runtime"

I couldn't agree more.  I was quite bored throughout the movie even though you had quite complex action sequences going on, but they never stopped.   There weren't any breathers at all and like you mention, the story wasn't moved forward and it did absolutely nothing to breath life into the characters.

[Knaldskalle]

In all fairness, I should add that I've read Tintin since my childhood and I'm a fan of the comic books, so maybe I am overly skeptical - but I don't think that's the case.

[Snorii]

First time that I've seen anything with Tintin for me.

[David]

I enjoyed Tintin quite a bit, and watched it twice as like you said, the action of the film is a bit overwhelming.  I wasn't that familiar with the character, but found it pretty charming and adventure filled.

[Ando]

The King's Speech It was exactly what I thought it would be: great set design and impeccable resolution featuring an irascible teacher and a stammerer-with-a-heart-of-gold student who make history. Proper British history. I didn't even need to watch it. And Helen Bonham Carter's brand of fun (she's apparently taken on the Maggie Smith niche for her generation) doesn't save it from being formula. The indispensability of music in any cultural tradition is probably the biggest lesson I took from the experience. The film, certainly, would have unbearable without it. 

[David]

I enjoyed it quite a bit too.

[David]

I enjoyed The Shield too, but lost track of it during the last two season or somewhere along that line.  They kept switching the times and the nights it showed on.  I should finish up and see how it ends.  Six Feet Under suffered the same fate for me.  I haven't seen that particular Richie film.

[Mr. Bad]

The King's Speech was designed to win Oscars. Period.

[eviltimes]

yup.  what a waste.

[David]

And some films aren't designed to win Oscars, make money, and please a crowd?

[Mr. Bad]

Oscar movies are a genre unto themselves and one that I usually try to avoid. They tend to be period pieces with all-star casts, frequently set in foreign countries. They also tend to have upbeat feelgood messages about the human spirit that tend to get a little repetitive.

On the other hand, there are hundreds of films made because of the passion of the film makers to communicate something that can only be said in film, to make an artistic statement, and/or illuminate some aspect of human experience. I'm sure others can come up with plenty of examples, but one that immediately comes to my mind is Decasia.

And there are plenty of movies made that have a slim possibility of winning an Oscar but are still entertaining crowd pleasers, as well as having a sneaky intelligence hidden under the surface that is every bit as thought provoking as the overstuffed Oscar bait that comes out every Xmas season.