TV/Movies Megathread

[11B4V]

The movie sucked. Get over it.

No, you are gay and have no vision.

[Razgovory]

The whole film of Waterloo is on Youtube.  I'm taking the opportunity to watch it.

[mongers]

The whole film of Waterloo is on Youtube.  I'm taking the opportunity to watch it.

Is it in the original super wide screen/whatever it was film in ? 

[Ed Anger]

The whole film of Waterloo is on Youtube.  I'm taking the opportunity to watch it.

I've got a region 0 Chinese disc.

[Razgovory]

The whole film of Waterloo is on Youtube.  I'm taking the opportunity to watch it.

I've got a region 0 Chinese disc.

Interesting fact, there were 2,000 soviet cavalry men use in the production of the film.  Though slightly anachronistic, all of them were equipped with late 1960's soviet military uniforms and gear in their scenes.  An additional 15,000 soviet infantry were used under the condition that they keep all the uniforms and props.  The uniforms, cannons and long arms from the film were used by soviet soldiers in Germany until 1986 when they were replaced with props from American film North and the South.

[Scipio]

Just watched the trailer for Tom Cruise's new movie Jack Reacher.  Pretty typical fare until the last moments of the trailer.  Then I laughed out loud.

[The Brain]

Does Jack reach around?

[Josephus]

AMC is showing a bunch of Friday The Thirteenths. Man those were bad, and got progressively worse.

[11B4V]

AMC is showing a bunch of Friday The Thirteenths. Man those were bad, and got progressively worse.

I noticed that too. Just cant bring myself to watch.

Seen the old Red Dawn a couple of weeks ago. The trailer on the new one..........*shakes head* Hollywood is going to fuck it up, I just know it.

[Liep]

I hate digging scenes on television. NO! When you first hear that metal sound it shouldn't be possible to just brush of dirt from the rest of the box.

[Ideologue]

Got the Planet of the Apes BD set.  Woot, possibly?  Sort of a compulsive buy.  The first one is very good, of course.

But just one bit about the original: Prometheus, as we've discussed, has some really terrible astronauts, but Planet of the Apes may have the worst astronauts of any story in any medium.  They fail to recognize our constellations, Jupiter, Venus, Sol, and THE FUCKING MOON, and incorrectly locate themselves in a star system like 300 light years from Earth.  Did I miss an explanation for that?  Did we blow up the moon?*

*Apropos of nothing, this is one of two (2) good scenes in the otherwise awful remake of The Time Machine.

[Josquius]

Stellar drift?

[Josquius]

Scenes I thought were over the top were,
1. Dumb ass trying to pet the mutated cave worms. What I said when that scene unfolded was, "You got shit for brains and you'll get your up and comins" "Stupid". I'd have probably shot the thing when it first "Flared". Would have defiantly had it muzzled with a weapon.
2. Taking their helmets off way too quickly.


Posed more questions than answers. Nothing wrong with that IMO. I think the spinoff plot lines caused by us, "Meddling Monkeys" are minor side plots of typical bumbling humans. Maybe deflections by Scott and the writers. 
1. Opening the vault that mutated the cave worms
2. Why did driod boy bring the mutagen on the ship and infect dude with the mutagen (agenda there).
3. Shaw getting pregnant by infected boy.
4. Shaw's bundle of joy that took down the Engineer, which led to a familiar face  popping out of his chest.
5. Mohawk boy doing a face plant in the goo and getting mutated.

I think the real plot, at least to me and questions I would like answered in sequels are;
1. Who were the Engineers?
2. Why did the create life on earth?
3. For what purpose did they create or harvest the mutagen and what was their intent with it?
4. Why did they want to (apparently) destroy what they created on earth? They dated the dead engineers at 2000 years on LV 223. That would have been 93 CE on earth at the time the Engineers were alive.
5. Why, when the surviving Engineer gets woke up and comes to his senses, does he gets pissed? A big WTF moment in his eyes? ZOMG there loose?
6. Explaining or tying in the other craft on LV 426.

Yeah, 2 bothered me somewhat too but then even in the best film ever they would probally do that. It isn't realistic, its rather dumb, but in cinema they'll always want people to take off their space suits asap so the actors can be seen.

And 1 is pretty typical horror movie stupid.

The rest...yeah. That was annoying about the film. Its not just a pseudo-alien prequel, it feels like the prequel to its sequel- as in it feels like it was made 2nd. It givess  nothing but questions really.
My guess is the suicide alien was from some crazy cult and the other aliens the anti-religion government/group, or even better a different religious faction that sees humans existance as heresy; one group is all up on spreading life in their lonely universe whilst the other things they're special and should stay that way.

[Ideologue]

Stellar drift?

Anyway, I found what I want get my dad for Christmas--the Criterion Rip Off Machine's Akira Kurosawa centennial collection.  25 films, only $300 new(ish), $2xx if I buy it used with all the uncertainty that entails.  It's on regular SD DVD, with no extras.  Pretty packaging though!  I do need to figure out if dad's already obtained the larger part of them, in whatever fashion ( ), since if so that's $300 for a bunch of nice boxes and a picture book.  Can you believe that there isn't an English-subtitled Kurosawa collection on BD?  I bet I could get some shitty anime with subtitles on BD.  There are some overpriced (Criterion ) single-issues, e.g. Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Rashoman, perhaps a smattering more.  OK, I admit I want this for myself.

I went through the same thing in considering the Stanley Kubrick collection on Blu Ray as a gift.  That is, 1)I'm pretty sure he has DVD copies at least, and 2)I am going to get this for myself.  At $100, it's a reasonably well-priced deal for the (famous) Kubrick films.  What sucks is that it doesn't include Paths of Glory, or The Killing, or some other odds and ends.  Recalling that I described Criterion as a quasi-scam, Paths of Glory and The Killing are available on BD through them for the low, low price of about $30 (apiece).

So, the stealth theme of this part of the post is: Criterion is fucking balls.  But this is a serious question--do they just lock up print rights to--and we're not talking obscure art-house shit here--movies like Paths of Glory and then jack the shit out of the price with the illusory value added by their branding and packaging?  I can't believe there is not a market for Paths of Glory at the $10-12 level, which is where you would find most big-deal-but-way-old-like-Ed-Anger-old movies, and is in fact what the "bigger" Kubrick films cost.  Or, more simply, why doesn't a Stanley Kubrick collection include Paths of Glory?  Because fuck you, that's why.

***
Now, the helpful part of the post.

Other BD stuff that I found that may make good gifts to oneself or, if you're into that, other people.  Films include in bold, grades added for ones I've seen because I'm compulsive.

I talked about the Stanley Kubrick collection above.

Included : Spartacus (A), Lolita, Dr. Strangelove (A+), The Shining (B), Full Metal Jacket (A), Barry Lyndon, A Clockwork Orange (A+), Eyes Wide Shut (A), 2001 (A+)).

Mel Brooks 8-movie set for about $50.  It's got all the good stuff but Spaceballs and The Producers (those of you arguing that Dracula: Dead and Loving It, as my girlfriend does, is "the good stuff," are a testament to our nation's declining aesthetic sensibility).  It does include Blazing Saddles through special arrangement with MGM (or the other way around, I forget).  Here's a fun fact illustrating why brick and mortar stores deserve to die: Best Buy is selling this for $110.  For fucking real, guys?

Included: Blazing Saddles (A), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (B), High Anxiety (C+), Silent Movie (B), History of the World: Part I (A+), Young Frankenstein (A), To Be or Not to Be, Twelve Chairs.

A Tim Burton/Time Warner 7-movie collection that perforce excludes two of the three most important Burton films, Edward Scissorhands (available reasonably priced in standalone) and Nightmare Before Christmas (available for twenty fucking dollars via Disney's Criterion-like market-defying price scheme), nor does it include his best film, Ed Wood (also available but a little pricey).  (Oh, the other "most important" was Batman.)  However, the price of the collection itself is like $45, which is a pretty great deal.

Included: Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (B), Batman (A), Batman Returns (B+), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (B), Corpse Bride (C), Mars Attacks, Beetlejuice (A+).

A Blade Runner collection, out in a couple of days, that includes all the cuts, final, director's, theatrical, international, and a workprint (!)... at least, I think so.  I can't tell what they're actually selling as the product description of the 3-disc, reasonably-priced-at-$23 set, describes a set with 5 discs instead, which is like a billion dollars, or might as well be because I'm not buying it.  Anyway, I might get if I can get most of the content at the non-retarded price point, and then I can enjoy the various mutations of Ridley Scott's one really great movie (unless I'm forgetting something... I am not forgetting Alien, which is an important and influential movie as opposed to being a truly great movie; people should learn the difference).

Included: a trillion different Blade Runners, all A+.

Alfred Hitchcock collection.  $225.  15 movies.  No Strangers on a Train.  Whatever, dude.  I'm not a Hitchcock expert or huge fan, but I don't see how leaving that out, but keeping The Birds in, earns you any favor with your god.

Included: what you'd expect--except Strangers on a Train.  Presumably it was left out to package in the physical blowjob (B+) you'll recieve for spending $225 on 15 films, one of which is The Birds (D+).  It does have The Trouble With Harry (A+), an important precursor in the evolution of film that led, inexorably, to Weekend At Bernie's (A+).

Everyone probably already knows about the James Bond 22-film collection.  I'm not a big Bond guy, but I confess to a little temptation purely because I like shit in boxes and at $180 it's a rather nice price assuming you actually want all of these, but for my part I don't need this because Moonraker is available separately and it doesn't even try to include the original Casino Royale (sure, it sucks, I know, but there's a really great 90 minute movie trapped inside that 130 minute abomination).  I think it's missing another one due to rights issues too--In Her Majesty's Secret Service iirc?

Included: 93% of all your James Bond needs, and 100% of your Mookraker (A) requirement.

5-film Christopher Nolan /Time Warner collection.  See, the trick is to buy The Prestige separately, take the book out of the box, put The Prestige where the book went, because it fits perfectly, and, finally, throw the book in the garbage, because it's lame.  The good part is it's really bargain-priced at $34.  It'd be nice if it had Following too, but that's life.

Included: Memento (A+), Insomnia (A+), Batman Begins (C), Dark Knight (B), Inception (A).  Also The Prestige (A+), if, like me, you are crafty.

Oh, and here's a novelty, although it's not out till November--a director's collection, that actually collects the director: the 8-film Quentin Tarantino collection. Okay, it's got a few weaknesses, on which more in a moment, but they are in the scheme of things minor: it has every feature film he directed, plus True Romance.  I really wish it had Four Rooms, because, honestly, that movie is amazingly fun even if Tarantino only directed a quarter of it (and arguably not the best quarter), and it doesn't include other writing ventures (e.g., From Dusk Till Dawn, i.e. big fucking loss).  That's $90.

Included: True Romance, Reservoir Dogs (A), Pulp Fiction (A+), Jackie Brown (B), Kill Bill (A), Inglorious Basterds (A), Death Proof.

***

Of these, I am definitely getting the Stanley Kubrick and the Tarantino sets.  N.B.: all prices viz. Amazon, but you knew that.

[CountDeMoney]

Will you knock it the fuck off with the editing already?  You make Valmy look like he's taking his Ritalin.