TV/Movies Megathread

[Ideologue]

The true story imposes a limit, but just 'cause something's true doesn't make it better.

Not too sure about that. True stories have a plus for me when they convey extreme examples of human behavior. Anybody can make up some bizarre story, knowing that something happened for real makes it more gripping, to me, than a more tightly executed but fake story.

That's why, say, Conspiracy spooks the hell out of me while Fatherland doesn't.

A matter of tastes, of course.

OK, what I was going to say earlier was that "It depends on the story."  Miserablist stories are almost always better if they're true.  (If Fury had been a true story, it might've been a great movie.  It wasn't, so it was contrived shit--because it was so obviously contrived to make you feel like shit, it became boring and by turns laughable.)

And the notion that a story is true can lend a fictionalized retelling a frisson of relevance or immediacy, even when it's largely made-up, e.g. Pain & Gain.

But the problem with true stories is that people tend to be boring and stupid, and biographical fealty thus tends to flatten things with human beings' boring and stupid natures.  Plenty of movies transcend that and really grab you, even if only the last ten minutes--like DDA does (or, for an odd comparison, like The Right Stuff does).  But you can constantly feel the obligation to the facts that weighs them down.  A lot of true stories don't transcend their obligation to human flatness at all--The Social Network, Lincoln, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game.  And those movies are at least pretty good (though they're mainly just okay).  TWoWS is a good example of what I mean--that movie has a potentially perfect ending, then goes on for like another hour, because Jordan Belfort's life went on for another hour's worth of... well, just stuff.

Of course, you have the ones that play more like historical fiction than biopics, like 12 Years a Slave or Lawrence of Arabia.  Those certainly transcend their obligation.

[The Minsky Moment]

The caper plot, yes, but neither the assault on American capitalism nor American racism (specifically post-9/11 racism) which are such hugely important parts of the weave. It's gotta be NYC.

Could be any major financial center other than Dubai.
Same corruption/same fears

[Ideologue]

Well, maybe London, but in Hong Kong they'd just shoot the place up in act one, because the most important thing to the Chinese is that the roads stay cleared.

[The Minsky Moment]

Well, maybe London, but in Hong Kong they'd just shoot the place up in act one, because the most important thing to the Chinese is that the roads stay cleared.

 

[The Minsky Moment]

Plenty of movies transcend that and really grab you, even if only the last ten minutes--like DDA does (or, for an odd comparison, like The Right Stuff does).

Sigh.
The last 10 minutes has impact only because what came before.
What came before is the movie.
It's the French Connection problem all over - I think this whole period is just lost for you.

[Ideologue]

Maybe "narratively satisfy" is the better phrase.

And, hey man, I love Carrie.  That's in the period.  (Lol. )

[viper37]

Saw the entire Indiana Jones series over Christmas time.
My final rating:
Crusade>Arc>Temple>Skull.

I'm already on CdM's lists, so I don't care.

Crusade has babe factor +10, obviously, but also given Indy's dad presence, there is obviously a lot of banter between the two characters.  Skull, to be honest, is not a bad movie, it's just not good as the others.  The final part, with the aliens is pretty cool, but what came before is boring.  And the relations between the two Jones of this movie doesn't really work, ever.  Probably because of Laboeuf, or because Ford is tired of this franchise, or both.

Temple is better than Skull because of the indian buffet.  That was Epic.

[Ideologue]

It's Ford.  Shia's great in that movie.  I've probably said it before, but Ford does seem tired in that film, although it's a presumably-accidental choice that comes close to working because Indy's tired, too.

It gratifies me to see Skull begin to be rehabilitated.  I predicted it many years ago.

[Admiral Yi]

Smaug.  I was expecting terrible, pleasantly surprised.  The cliffhanger ending really sucked though.

[Martinus]

 

Well, maybe London, but in Hong Kong they'd just shoot the place up in act one, because the most important thing to the Chinese is that the roads stay cleared.

[11B4V]

Finished with The Americans 

Margo Martindale is a wickedly lovable old lady. Deliciously Evil. Easily my favorite character.

Dont fuck with grandmama, she'll fuck you up.

Chucked when Larrick was bitching about one-time pads.

John-Boy was excellent too.

[celedhring]

I really like The Americans. I know the show's creator is ex-CIA so I wonder how much of the show is based on real events.

[11B4V]

I really like The Americans. I know the show's creator is ex-CIA so I wonder how much of the show is based on real events.

The only character I thought was weak was Stan.

The series focuses on the personal and professional lives of the Jennings, sometimes incorporating real-life events into the narrative. The show's creator has described the series as being ultimately about a marriage.

[celedhring]

That "real-life" events comment probably means the historic events depicted in the series like Reagan's assassination attempt or the SDI. But I really wonder how realistic is the show, regarding what we know of KGB's operations within the US at the time.

And yeah, Stan's character feels more forced than the others, but Emmerich pulls it off, imho.

[Eddie Teach]

Crusade has babe factor +10, obviously, but also given Indy's dad presence, there is obviously a lot of banter between the two characters.

Crusade does have the best banter, I'll give you that. But the action sequences and situational comic relief in Raiders are just about perfect.