What movie did you see today?

[wiggin]

I've only seen pics of the Avro Vulcan, never an actual plane, I'm afraid. Oh well.

I do find strategic bomber missions to be crazy. Many of the B-1 and B-2 strikes in recent years have come out of random AFBs in the US - the B-2s from Missouri. They fly for over a day with occasional refueling, rotating flight crews, etc. Then they drop their (relatively limited) ordnance and turn around. They do occasionally use forward-deployed bombers at Fairford, Diego Garcia, or Guam, but a bunch come from mainland US. Talk about fuel expenditures.

At the end of the day, though, in terms of sheer mayhem and power, the B-52 is unparalleled. Not a fancy plane, perhaps, and fantastically old, but they can drop a truly ridiculous amount of munitions in a single sortie. Their mission capable rate is also pretty damned good. If you've ever had a chance to see one up close, it's pretty impressive. I have to wonder what they'll finally develop to replace it.

[Lebanese Dragon]

I saw TED today, and it was surprisingly good. I didn't expect much from it, but it definitely didn't dissappoint, good movie to see with friends.

I also second that the new Spider man, the one with the lizard, was really good, and imo the best in the live action franchise so far. (it does have a slow start though).

[Timbuk2]

At the end of the day, though, in terms of sheer mayhem and power, the B-52 is unparalleled. Not a fancy plane, perhaps, and fantastically old, but they can drop a truly ridiculous amount of munitions in a single sortie. Their mission capable rate is also pretty damned good. If you've ever had a chance to see one up close, it's pretty impressive. I have to wonder what they'll finally develop to replace it.

Yeh they're impressive aircraft. During Gulf War Pt 1, B-52s would take-off & land at Fairford (my dad lives 5 miles away, which is why we go so often to RIAT there), and the window panes in the house would rattle every time they go past.

Old tech nowadays, but still effective, as you say.

[Ominous Gamer]

Journey 2.

I've never seen a movie with a plot so awful, so full of holes, that it made me want to give up trying to watch it. Until Journey 2.

Which is a shame, cause The Rock and Michael Caine really put their all into it. Way better scene duo than I was expecting. The island and the scenery was amazing, everything was rendered with top budget effects, and the sub...I'd watch a movie just about that sub and Nemo.

[wiggin]

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Hehe.

[Crowheart]

Saw the Devil's Double.

Thought it was pretty decent.

[Kazuha Vinland]

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises.

Partially because my expectations were too high, and partially because of clichee, I guess this movie didn't hit all the way home. 6/10.

On the other hand, Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal, was a handful of touching scenarios. My eyes got watery near the end. The OVA series really had a much more gloomy setting compared to the anime series. In the latter, Kenshin would joke around and only be serious when talking about his past. This movie was about that past, and you got to see him as deserate and despaired. Those sword strikes that in the series was just glimpses of light, were also much more brutally depicted, going through the bodies and tearing off flesh. Yet I felt this was one of the movies where they really empahized the seriousness of violence, not just had it as entertainment. 9/10.

[Nessus]

Burn After Reading was a spot-on Coen brothers film!

[Ominous Gamer]

finally saw the last batman movie. Been trying to keep the spoilers to a minimum. Not exactly easy to do on the internet. Hell, someone here even slipped a little to much information out in one of their posts. But i think the semi-spoilers made the movie better. The way the movie ends, you have to go all in to spoil the movie, dropping hints like "batman is done" isn't enough. So I do appreciate the movie for those small but important twists.

People have said that its long, and it is, but I dont think it dragged. It was a good roller coaster of ups and downs. Lots of references to the comics so that got a few chuckles out of me.

[gogobongopop]

Saw the The Dark Knight Rises on Sunday. Enjoyed it, although not quite as good as the second.

Awesome soundtrack, once again.

Also, I've -never- seen such an unrealistic bomb countdown. I won't say anymore, but Jesus Christ; I mean Jesus Christ that was stupid.

Oh! And saw Black Swan. Wow. Excellent film.

Oh! And saw a trailor for Total Recall. . .



Screw you, Hollywood.

[Aimless]

Total Recall was all right. To my great surprise, so was Battleship...! I was actually kinda stunned because my expectations were so low, but it was actually a solid action movie with decent characterisation and plot, barring the "why not just destroy the satellite" issue.

Mixed feelings about the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series. It's probably my least favourite of the kiddie-friendly Marvel adaptations, but it's mostly got the humour down at least. Way too many infantile asides and lame villains so far, and I don't like the new story-ideas. Bit weird having the Venom-symbiote's first word be "Nerd!"

[Loki]

I saw Battleship on the plane, and it wasn't terrible, but not exactly good either. It certainly was better than Wrath of the Titans though.

[Aimless]

yes but so's your face

[Loki]

Wish I could say the same about yours.

[earthJoker]

Saw Batman, I liked it. But I have to say I never expected it to top the 2nd.

Spoiler:

I think it's funny that Tom Hardy plays yet another character that survived a underground hellhole to become the nemesis.

[Timbuk2]

Booked seats to see it tomorrow.

[wiggin]

Saw Babel today. Better than I expected (I couldn't get through 21 Grams) but a bit disjointed. Pitt's performance was pretty good IMO.

[Timbuk2]

Couldn't get through it?

[wiggin]

I tried watching 21 Grams previously - it's another of Inarritu's 'trilogy' that concluded with Babel. I think the multiple storylines worked a lot better in Babel than in 21 Grams - I just couldn't really get into the latter film at all. Maybe I needed to give it a bit more time (the actors, after all, are quite superb), but oh well.

[Timbuk2]

I was gripped by 21 Grams, thought it was v good.

Not seen Babel.

[wiggin]

So I guess my issue is with the nonlinear storytelling. It often seems like a gimmick to me rather than actually having a point. What's the film term Ebert uses? 'Hyperlink' cinema?

There are plenty of films that do it decently, no question - I enjoyed Pulp Fiction, Traffic, Crash, etc. But I feel like sometimes filmmakers get lost in the 'gimmick' and don't spend enough time on making a good film. The mystery of a seemingly disjointed set of storylines that then resolve together can be quite satisfying at times, but sometimes it just gets lost in the method and forgets to make a good story (I've heard this critique of Memento as well, though obviously it's a somewhat different story structure than what we're talking about). I think the filmmaker has to ask him/herself: if the movie was shown in a roughly linear and clearly connected format, would it still have something compelling to say? If the answer is no, then either the gimmick has got to be amazing or maybe you should revisit the story. I felt that Syriana failed this test - the underlying story was not that compelling, and the different plotlines did not tie together particularly well.

In Babel, I felt that it did a decent job of weaving a compelling central story (though the Japanese vignette seemed unnecessarily grafted onto the rest of the film). In 21 Grams, I never got to the 'resolution' phase; I just felt completely unattached to the first half of the film because of the scattershot scenes with no context. Since you enjoyed it, maybe I'll give it another try.

I don't think that movies need to spoon-feed the audience with a story - I'm okay with working a bit for it. But being obscure without purpose can get annoying at times.

[Flixy]

So I guess my issue is with the nonlinear storytelling. It often seems like a gimmick to me rather than actually having a point. What's the film term Ebert uses? 'Hyperlink' cinema?

There are plenty of films that do it decently, no question - I enjoyed Pulp Fiction, Traffic, Crash, etc. But I feel like sometimes filmmakers get lost in the 'gimmick' and don't spend enough time on making a good film. The mystery of a seemingly disjointed set of storylines that then resolve together can be quite satisfying at times, but sometimes it just gets lost in the method and forgets to make a good story (I've heard this critique of Memento as well, though obviously it's a somewhat different story structure than what we're talking about). I think the filmmaker has to ask him/herself: if the movie was shown in a roughly linear and clearly connected format, would it still have something compelling to say? If the answer is no, then either the gimmick has got to be amazing or maybe you should revisit the story. I felt that Syriana failed this test - the underlying story was not that compelling, and the different plotlines did not tie together particularly well.

In Babel, I felt that it did a decent job of weaving a compelling central story (though the Japanese vignette seemed unnecessarily grafted onto the rest of the film). In 21 Grams, I never got to the 'resolution' phase; I just felt completely unattached to the first half of the film because of the scattershot scenes with no context. Since you enjoyed it, maybe I'll give it another try.

I don't think that movies need to spoon-feed the audience with a story - I'm okay with working a bit for it. But being obscure without purpose can get annoying at times.

Agreed. Since Pulp Fiction there has been a big amount of films using the same setup. I think it can be nice, if it fits the narrative. But yeah, it's often a gimmick, and it's annoying when a director does it time and time again. Haven't seen Babel, but that's the same director as Amores Perros, no? I liked that one, but seems like the same setup. I didnt like Crash particularly much, by the way, thought it was a bit too.. standard, the plots were all trying to be realistic but a bit too convenient, and sortof sticking to stereotypes. Hard to put my opinion into English words, but I was disappointed by it.

[wiggin]

I liked Crash more for the fact that it dealt with a very sensitive subject in an interesting manner. Race relations in LA are not an easy subject to tell a story about, and I appreciated their attempt to do so. To me the interweaving plotline bit was cute but unnecessary to the broader point of the film. It just happened to be a worthwhile film anyways.

[Flixy]

I liked Crash more for the fact that it dealt with a very sensitive subject in an interesting manner. Race relations in LA are not an easy subject to tell a story about, and I appreciated their attempt to do so. To me the interweaving plotline bit was cute but unnecessary to the broader point of the film. It just happened to be a worthwhile film anyways.

Meh - I suppose it's because race simply is less of an issue here. I found the morality a bit too much shoved down your throat, to be honest, and in that sense making it more of a political pamphlet than a realistic film. Which isn't bad an sich, but I felt the film tried to be more of a realistic film (with a message of course). It was all just a bit too made, a bit too cheesy for me, too perfect for the story, I guess.

Well made of course, and I guess the message is still very much needed in the US making it worthwhile too. I think the content is what made it such a big hit, not the quality. Reminds me somewhat of brokeback mountain, hyped pretty much because it's a mainstream films about gays. That may be special in the USA, but it certainly isn't here, which leaves only the film's quality - which is decent, but not worth the hype.

Edit: it is apparently 21 grams that has almost the exact same plot device as Amores Perros, not Babel. Still similar structures though, which is a bit of a shame if you ask me.

[Flixy]

Moonrise kingdom. Awesome! Very funny, liked it a lot

[Nessus]

Triumph des Willens

[Lor]

-snip- Vulcan stuff -snip-

I saw the plane at the Lowestoft Air Festival, amazing piece of kit. However I would love to see a B-52.

Anywho, movies. I watched Expendables 2 recently as I had a few hours to kill prior to football. The one liners were bordering on utter cheese but it did make me giggle a few times. However, you can't go to wrong when blowing shit up with X amount of action heroes.

[Flixy]

Triumph des Willens

Surely that wasn't the first time?

[Flixy]

Iron Sky

Tonight I'm going to watch a Coen brothers film, I got the entire collection Tips which one I should watch? Already seen True Grit, Big Lebowski, Burn After Reading, No Country For Old Men, Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Raising Arizone, A Serious Man, and The Man Who Wasn't There!

[wiggin]

Iron Sky

Ohh, was it any good?