TV/Movies Megathread

[frunk]

Isn't the character in the comic a bit of a dishonest asshole? Felt that got watered down in the film.

Not to get too spoilery, but the anime makes references to the movie and comic and takes things in some pretty crazy directions.

[Josquius]

I watched the first episode of the Scott pilgrim cartoon.
I like it.
Though it does give me melancholy.

Curious to see it's entirely Japanese made (theme tune recognisably by a band I was aware of donkies ago and surprised to see pop up here) but with the original Hollywood movie cast. Apparently down to those who are big stars today.

[celedhring]

I rewatched the movie a few months ago and I didn't even remember that Aubrie Plaza, Allison Pill, Kieran Culkin or Anna Kendrik were in it. I spent half the film doing the Di Caprio pointing at screen meme every time somebody who's now famous showed up onscreen.

I also enjoyed the movie more than when it came out, strangely. I guess it's nostalgia for the time.

[frunk]

I rewatched the movie a few months ago and I didn't even remember that Aubrie Plaza, Allison Pill, Kieran Culkin or Anna Kendrik were in it. I spent half the film doing the Di Caprio pointing at screen meme every time somebody who's now famous showed up onscreen.

I also enjoyed the movie more than when it came out, strangely. I guess it's nostalgia for the time.

I had the same reaction.  First time I thought the style was fun but didn't enjoy much else.  Each time after that it got better as I realized how deep the style tied into the story as a whole.

Just finished the series and it's fantastic in its own way.  So much of it is a reaction to the originals without being anything like them.  One of the major plots is surprisingly satisfying on reflection and I'm tempted to jump right into a rewatch to see what I missed.

[Valmy]

I mean, I know that Scientology is an evil cult. I didn't realize it had actually managed to impact their brand - but I'm happy to hear that it has.

Well they had two big means of maintaining their power in the past. First they kept their members under an iron bubble of thought control, which is harder to do now with the internet. Second everybody on the outside was terrified of them, but that is starting to wane...again mostly thanks to the internet.

Which is not say the internet is bad for cults, obviously not, just bad for ones designed for the analog era.

[celedhring]

I rewatched the movie a few months ago and I didn't even remember that Aubrie Plaza, Allison Pill, Kieran Culkin or Anna Kendrik were in it. I spent half the film doing the Di Caprio pointing at screen meme every time somebody who's now famous showed up onscreen.

I also enjoyed the movie more than when it came out, strangely. I guess it's nostalgia for the time.

I had the same reaction.  First time I thought the style was fun but didn't enjoy much else.  Each time after that it got better as I realized how deep the style tied into the story as a whole.

Yeah, it might be one of the best comic book adaptations - in the sense of trying to incorporate the comic's aesthetics into film in a way that feels cohesive. Most comic book live action movies are just "let's take these characters and make a movie about them".

[Admiral Yi]

Yeah, it might be one of the best comic book adaptations - in the sense of trying to incorporate the comic's aesthetics into film in a way that feels cohesive. Most comic book live action movies are just "let's take these characters and make a movie about them".

And Sin City.

[celedhring]

I also love how in Dick Tracy they just use the same villain character designs from the comic, which makes them horribly deformed mutants when placed in a live action film 

300 pulls that off though, but that film is incredibly heightened so it works there.

[Syt]

I also love how in Dick Tracy they just use the same villain character designs from the comic, which makes them horribly deformed mutants when placed in a live action film 

300 pulls that off though, but that film is incredibly heightened so it works there.

Recently watched the Patrick Willems video about Dick Tracy ... what a weird movie (that I barely remembered). Also watched his Zak Snyder video which was interesting.

[celedhring]

Dick Tracy is one of those "very talented people making a very bad film" type of fascinating trainwrecks.

[Josquius]

Scott Pilgrim is honestly one of my favourite films of all time. It hits so many vibes for me.
Which is also where it gets melancholic these days.
RIP music.

[Syt]

Dick Tracy is one of those "very talented people making a very bad film" type of fascinating trainwrecks.

It's very visually striking, though. And with a soundtrack that includes tracks by Madonna and Stephen Sondheim, somehow.

[celedhring]

Dick Tracy is one of those "very talented people making a very bad film" type of fascinating trainwrecks.

It's very visually striking, though. And with a soundtrack that includes tracks by Madonna and Stephen Sondheim, somehow.

Oh yeah, it has many amazing shots. That's what you get when you have Storaro as DP. Again, a bunch of very talented people making a not very good film. 

[Darth Wagtaros]

I haven't seen Tick Tracy in forever. I remember thinking it was cool, in a way. But it took itself too seriously in the wrong ways.

[Syt]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/19/ridley-scott-hits-back-french-criticise-napoleon-film/

Ridley Scott says French 'don't even like themselves' after criticism of his Napoleon film

Director's interpretation of famous emperor has been derided as full of inaccuracies by historians

By
Patrick Sawer,
19 November 2023 • 5:19pm

Sir Ridley Scott has dismissed criticism that his spectacular Napoleon biopic is anti-French, saying the French "don't even like themselves".

The director's interpretation of the story of the French soldier turned emperor, starring Joaquin Phoenix with a running time of two hours 38 minutes, has been criticised in Napoleon's native land as being riddled with historical inaccuracies.

Patrice Gueniffey, a historian and author of two books on the Emperor, said the film not only peddled myths about Napoleon but was also too pro-British to be a credible account of his life.

Sir Ridley responded: "The French don't even like themselves. The audience that I showed it to in Paris, they loved it."

Mr Gueniffey, the author of  Bonaparte and Napoleon and de Gaulle: Two French Heroes, has damned the film.

In an interview with French magazine Le Point he pointed out that Napoleon was not present at the execution of Marie Antoinette and did not fire a cannon at an Egyptian pyramid, as seen in the film.

He said Sir Ridley had created a caricature of Napoleon as "a sullen boor and a cad with his wife, Joséphine" rather than the complex politician and military leader who shaped history.

He also called the film "very anti-French and very pro-English".

He said: "The proof that this film is by an Englishman is that the most successful sequence is devoted to Waterloo and the revenge of Wellington, promoted to hero at the end."

Others in France have taken offence at the delivery of some of the dialogue.

Le Figaro said the film could be renamed "Barbie and Ken under the Empire". French GQ said there was something "deeply clumsy, unnatural and unintentionally funny" in seeing French soldiers in 1793 shouting "Vive La France" with American accents.

But the director of Gladiator and Alien said he had little time for historians who pointed out the film's historical inaccuracies or inconsistencies, saying: "Were you there? Oh you weren't there. Then how do you know?"

Asked in a BBC interview what he thought of historians who take aim at his film, Sir Ridley said:  "You really want me to answer that?... it will have a bleep in it."

And while some in France have panned Phoenix's portrayal of Napoleon, Sir Ridley described the star as "probably the most special, thoughtful actor" he has ever worked with.

Sir Ridley, who turns 86 next month, said his fascination with Napoleon harked back to his first film released in 1977, The Duellists, set during the Napoleonic Wars.

He added: "He's so fascinating. Revered, hated, loved, more famous than any man or leader or politician in history. How could you not want to go there?"