TV/Movies Megathread

[Ideologue]

Ide does not like the Hunger Games movies? I guess I should watch them then.

You sound like an idiot.

[lustindarkness]

Ide does not like the Hunger Games movies? I guess I should watch them then.

You sound like an idiot.

I look like one too.

[Ideologue]

[garbon]

So, I havent seen any of the movies in the series so here's the question - should I watch the Hunger Games? I understand this is pop culture so I am not expecting high brow philosophy, just solid entertainment - so is this closer to Harry Potter (good) or Twilight (bad)?

People certainly seem to enjoy the Hunger Games series, so go nuts.  I think they're worse than Twilight overall.  Jennifer Lawrence is terrible in them, the stories of at least the first two are very bad (but particularly the first), and the filmmaking of the first one is rankly amateurish and ugly, whereas the filmmaking of the second is merely mediocre and basically watchable.

Ignore Ide. I've seen the first two Twilight movies and those were not even remotely fun (maybe the one moment when you find out what happens to vampires in the sun). First two Hunger Games movies were good, stupid fun.

[11B4V]

By default I have watched most of the shows being talked about,

Twilight: F
Hunger Games: As stated good stupid fun.
Maze Runner: about the same IMO
Divergent: could have been better
Harry Potter: best of the lot

[garbon]

Divergent spent way too much time trying to explain the world. Insurgent was somewhat better but then virtual reality plot...

[Admiral Yi]

Camp X-Ray.  Kristen Stewart is a grunt assigned to Gitmo.  She befriends a detainee who throws shit on her and wants to read the last Harry Potter book.  It's OK.

[Eddie Teach]

Narcos. Good stuff.

[Ideologue]

So, I havent seen any of the movies in the series so here's the question - should I watch the Hunger Games? I understand this is pop culture so I am not expecting high brow philosophy, just solid entertainment - so is this closer to Harry Potter (good) or Twilight (bad)?

People certainly seem to enjoy the Hunger Games series, so go nuts.  I think they're worse than Twilight overall.  Jennifer Lawrence is terrible in them, the stories of at least the first two are very bad (but particularly the first), and the filmmaking of the first one is rankly amateurish and ugly, whereas the filmmaking of the second is merely mediocre and basically watchable.

Ignore Ide. I've seen the first two Twilight movies and those were not even remotely fun (maybe the one moment when you find out what happens to vampires in the sun). First two Hunger Games movies were good, stupid fun.

I was comparing the whole Twilight series to the first two HG films.  The last three Twilights aren't... well, they're bad.  But they're operating at a different level of basic quality than the first two, which I'll happily concede are at least worse than HG: Catching Fire.

[katmai]

We all know Ide has shit taste, no need to remind him about it.

[Ideologue]

Things I've learned about katmai lately:

1)He doesn't understand or like ambitious formalistic exercises, probably because all he knows is it would make his job harder.

2)He really enjoys terribly edited shakycam action movies where the director doesn't care about the performances so limits the takes, probably because that kind of anti-technique would make his job easier.

[jimmy olsen]

It's a fun movie, but it's nowhere near as seminal as Alien/Blade Runner were.

The Academy disagrees.

Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Russell Crowe)
Best Visual Effects
Best Costume Design
Best Sound Mixing

[Ideologue]

The Academy has never been a great barometer for that stuff, especially when it involves genres like science fiction and horror.

Anyway, the main point is that Blade Runner's way better than anything else Ridley Scott ever did, but Blade Runner's one of the best movies made in the past 40 years.

Alien and Gladiator are about on the same level of quality, I guess, although Alien is a lot more imaginative.

The real question is this, though: Ridley or Tony?  It's not as open and shut as it first appears.

[11B4V]

It's a fun movie, but it's nowhere near as seminal as Alien/Blade Runner were.

The Academy disagrees.

Best Picture
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Russell Crowe)
Best Visual Effects
Best Costume Design
Best Sound Mixing

That don't matter on languish. Come on Tim.

[katmai]

Things I've learned about katmai lately:

1)He doesn't understand or like ambitious formalistic exercises, probably because all he knows is it would make his job harder.

2)He really enjoys terribly edited shakycam action movies where the director doesn't care about the performances so limits the takes, probably because that kind of anti-technique would make his job easier.

Which shows you know as little about me as you know about films.