Radio Blue Heart wrote:
Speaking of which I have a open question for everyone, what is your favorite comic adaptation films?
Howard the Duck. Instant classic.
Ugh!
If you like Marvel misfires, check out the 1990 version of Captain America. It has a heck of a pedigree. The director also did bad movies like "Alien From LA" and "Nemesis". The 1994 version of Fantastic Four was bad but at least it was never released. But you have to see Japanese Spider-Man! It is out there!
"I have known hardship and learned to aid the wretched."
-Virgil
This was definitely the most "comic book" of the Nolan trilogy, and that was fine by me. I've had my fill of Nolan doing these films, let's see what someone else has in mind now. Hopefully something leading into Justice League.
Spoiler Alert about the movie Brave, so if you haven't seen it, don't highlight the black rectangles! X3
I liked Brave, but did no else think it was odd that they didn't even mention bears in any manner during any previews? I mean, turning her mother into a bear was a major plot device, but every preview I saw depicted the movie as about some free-lanced Scottish girl realizing her independence and strength as a young woman. Of course the movie was still about that and ultimately reached the same conclusion, but the whole bear thing just seemed like a total curveball in an unflattering way to the movie. She was the first Disney princess who didn't need to be saved by a prince, and I just feel like they could have done so much more with this movie.
Beagle wrote:Spoiler Alert about the movie Brave, so if you haven't seen it, don't highlight the black rectangles! X3
I liked Brave, but did no else think it was odd that they didn't even mention bears in any manner during any previews? I mean, turning her mother into a bear was a major plot device, but every preview I saw depicted the movie as about some free-lanced Scottish girl realizing her independence and strength as a young woman. Of course the movie was still about that and ultimately reached the same conclusion, but the whole bear thing just seemed like a total curveball in an unflattering way to the movie. She was the first Disney princess who didn't need to be saved by a prince, and I just feel like they could have done so much more with this movie.
Something that needs to be understood is that there is usually very little connection between the people who make the movie and the people who advertise it. Like how John Carter was a riveting pulp sci-fi adventure in the vein of Star Wars, but it got advertised as a fairly generic sci-fi action movie.
Well the false advertising normally isn't as bad as it was with Brave.
(I also enjoyed Star Wars immensely, but I fell asleep at the 9:30 showing of John Carter. I can't tell if I was too tired but I don't really know what happened. John Carter was soooo long as compared to my normal hour and a half films.)
I haven't seen a movie in theaters in 6 months, it was J. Edgar. I really wanted to see the re-release of Singing in the Rain for its 65(?) anniversary, but I wasn't able to.
I did recently watch Charlie Chaplin's Great Dictator, he's never made a bad movie in my opinion.
After all the talk about the Hellboy movies over at the MLP thread, I have been on a kick for them lately. If you have not seen them I recommend them highly. You don't even have to have read the comics to appreciate them.
Another Mike Mignola creation that has made it to the screen is his comic "The Amazing Screw-On Head". Its about a steam punk robot that fights monsters for Abraham Lincoln. It is as weird and funny as it sounds. It was created as a pilot for a series that was never picked up, so I guess that it can be reclassified as a short film at this point.
Penwrite wrote:So... earlier today I watched Roger Corman's Galaxy of Terror for the first time.
That was an... unpleasant experience.
Ha ha ha! It takes a certain kind of person to sit through that one. I hope that it did not damage you too badly.
Can you believe that a young James Cameron was the assistant director and special effects designer on it? They all had to start somewhere!
In that case you should also avoid the Corman production "Humanoids From The Deep".
To take your mind off that, might I suggest something more silly. I was just reacquainting my self with the horror/comedy "Class of Nuke 'Em High" and its sequels. I think that you would like those. Its about that craziness going on around a high school that stand less than a mile away from a nuclear power plant. You get biker gangs, monster and assorted craziness!
Actually, I can believe that James Cameron worked as assistant director on Galaxy of Terror. It was very well-shot and directed, if nothing else, and he probably took a lot away from it in terms of doing a lot with a small budget.
In fact, a lot of big and influential directors have gotten their start working with Roger Corman. This includes Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, and Ron Howard.
In other words, we have Corman to thank for such films as Taxi Driver, The Godfather, Silence of the Lambs, Willow, and the entire Terminator franchise.
The director's cut of "Nightbreed" is finally getting a DVD release! Its going to be called "The Cabal Cut". I saw it played at "Mad Monster Party" back in March. If you have not seen this movie, wait for the The Cabal Cut, it is worth it and far superior to the "Studio took the film away from the director and re-cut it" version that is now available.
Also, low budget horror at its best. "The Video Dead"
A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad and The Ugly.
Three of the best western movies ever, also my favourite trilogy. Sergio Leone is one of my favourite directors too.
I just saw Goodfellas for the first time, loved it.
wahahahahahahhaahhah?! ahhhhhh! (I actually screamed for a bit.)
sooo, Home alone5 is being produced in Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada Right here where I live. not Chicago.
Punchy wrote:A Fistful of Dollars, For A Few Dollars More, The Good The Bad and The Ugly.
Three of the best western movies ever, also my favourite trilogy. Sergio Leone is one of my favourite directors too.
I just saw Goodfellas for the first time, loved it.
What about "Once Upon A Time In The West" and "Duck, You Sucker"?
"I have known hardship and learned to aid the wretched."
-Virgil
Radio Blue Heart wrote:What about "Once Upon A Time In The West" and "Duck, You Sucker"?
I actually haven't seen Duck, You Sucker yet.
I did recently see My Name Is Nobody, which Leone co-produced and co-directed.
And I really want to see Once Upon A Time In America (a story about the life of a Jewish gangster) as soon they complete the restoration.
texascat018 wrote:wahahahahahahhaahhah?! ahhhhhh! (I actually screamed for a bit.)
sooo, Home alone5 is being produced in Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada Right here where I live. not Chicago.
Has anyone seen Dances With Wolves? Me neither. But anyway I recently watched Thunderheart, arguably a better movie about native Americans. It's a crime drama about a murder investigation in a Sioux reservation; Val Kilmer is great as the reluctant FBI agent with Sioux heritage assigned to the case, and so is Graham Greene, one of the best Native American actors ever (actually he's from Canada). The movie very accurately depicts the Sioux culture, and is based on actual events in the 1970s in the Sioux reservations. The cinematography is quite lovely.
I try to avoid movies that say they're based on a true story. It's just a personal rule. They always either smudge details to make one person into a clear bad guy and another person into a clear good guy, or they end right before everything the main characters were working for comes crashing down and they fail.
I really, really like Silent Hill. It's probably the best adaptation of a video game so far (maybe even the only good one ) and shows how to make it right; it distills the confusing story of the original to a coherent whole, succeeds in evoking the games' atmosphere (the director set up a big TV playing one to recreate different shots) and even uses the awesome original soundtrack.
It's sad this film underperformed and they go into a bad direction with the sequel coming out later this year by making it "more accessible", read: dumb it down to the lowest common denominator and turn it into one of these dull slasher horror flicks a lá the Nightmare on Elms Street remake.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
Wanderer wrote:You don't need a job, you need money.
Liam wrote:I really, really like Silent Hill. It's probably the best adaptation of a video game so far (maybe even the only good one ) and shows how to make it right; it distills the confusing story of the original to a coherent whole, succeeds in evoking the games' atmosphere (the director set up a big TV playing one to recreate different shots) and even uses the awesome original soundtrack.
It's sad this film underperformed and they go into a bad direction with the sequel coming out later this year by making it "more accessible", read: dumb it down to the lowest common denominator and turn it into one of these dull slasher horror flicks a lá the Nightmare on Elms Street remake.
That's funny, all the fans of the Silent Hill series I've heard from consider the movie a complete betrayal, ruining characters, messing up the story, using the wrong Silent Hill monsters for the characters, and just being a big mess. The only compliment I've heard for the movie is that the soundtrack's good.
Now, having never played a Silent Hill game, I can't say if these judgments are valid or not, but I do know I liked the atmosphere and visual aesthetic the film had. And Liam, I'm not sure where you got the idea this new movie's going to be a dumbed down slasher flick. Have you seen the latest trailer for it?
Meh, there are always unpleasable fanboys. I think the top comment of that trailer says everything there is to the "they didn't slavishly carry over every single detail one-to-one; now it sucks!" criers. How do they think the bloated, confusing mythology of the originals would work as a film?
They turned it into a teenie slasher with the addition of that boyfriend guy and shoehorned the Order into the established movie continuity, what will probably lead to plot holes. Sorry, but signs are pointing to a step down the ladder.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair
Wanderer wrote:You don't need a job, you need money.
I liked the "Nightmare on Elm Street" films, they are good in their own right. They are more Dark Fantasy than slasher. But even then, slasher films are what they are.
Studios like to make films as "lowest common denominator" as possible. They know they have something but the try to squeeze extra money out of it.
But being Italian films, they are more Giallo than slasher films.
I am not a gamer, but I liked "Silent Hill" as a film. I am also a huge fan of Chritsophe Gans. He directed one of my all time favorite French films "Brotherhood of the Wolf".
"I have known hardship and learned to aid the wretched."
-Virgil
Radio Blue Heart wrote:I liked the "Nightmare on Elm Street" films, they are good in their own right. They are more Dark Fantasy than slasher. But even then, slasher films are what they are.
Studios like to make films as "lowest common denominator" as possible. They know they have something but the try to squeeze extra money out of it.
But being Italian films, they are more Giallo than slasher films.
I am not a gamer, but I liked "Silent Hill" as a film. I am also a huge fan of Chritsophe Gans. He directed one of my all time favorite French films "Brotherhood of the Wolf".
I've never understood this, and you sound like you'd know. What's the difference between a Giallo and a slasher?
Radio Blue Heart wrote:I liked the "Nightmare on Elm Street" films, they are good in their own right. They are more Dark Fantasy than slasher. But even then, slasher films are what they are.
Studios like to make films as "lowest common denominator" as possible. They know they have something but the try to squeeze extra money out of it.
But being Italian films, they are more Giallo than slasher films.
I am not a gamer, but I liked "Silent Hill" as a film. I am also a huge fan of Chritsophe Gans. He directed one of my all time favorite French films "Brotherhood of the Wolf".
I've never understood this, and you sound like you'd know. What's the difference between a Giallo and a slasher?
Giallos tend to be a bit more cerebral and mystery based, but do not skimp on the violence and adult content. Not that some slasher films don't keep you guessing who the killer is. But, I think it has to do more with the unique flavor of Italian cinema and technique. I suppose they could be considered the middle ground between the films of Alfred Hitchcock and the films of Sean S. Cunningham. Although many might consider this a cinema blasphemy, I have never really like Hitchcock, with the exceptions of a few camera tricks and quick editing, his films have always seemed king of flat. Give me Dario Argento or Mario Bava any day.
Come to think of it. "The Birds" or "Psycho" could have easily been Roger Corman movies when you consider their content. Corman's films only really lacked the name cast and the backing of a major studio. Some critics have even said that "Jaws" was nothing more than a big budget Roger Corman movie.
"I have known hardship and learned to aid the wretched."
-Virgil
And that leads to one of the pillars of thought upon which I have build my philosophy of cinema. Maker's intent means everything. Some of the best movies around, like Jaws, Alien, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and nearly everything made by Quentin Tarantino, are all B movie concepts treated with respect and care (and money), elevating the finished product to A movie status.