Thread: last movie you saw - and what did you think of it?

Originally Posted by Never

Poor attempt at a bad translation.

I explained my position on this more than once.

EDIT: I was going to leave it at that, but to be fair you deserve a better response.

I said before that I do not regret ever watching a creative film, regardless the system it goes through. Ultimately my goal is to be away from all the "anti-art" as much as I can whilst still enjoying "good art". This is a VERY hard thing to do. Movies are a hard thing to enjoy, as this industry is a different beast than the music industry.

For example there are many creative filmmakers out there that make great films that are "big" such as the Matrix; films that not only entertain but educate and represent insight of the creators. Sure they have to go through a corrupt system to be in final form, but they retain their integrity throughout.

On the other hand there are many that do not. Films that make it obvious that the creator himself does not understand art very well and is willing to make huge sacrifices to the whole project. This can be a matter of personal opinion on many films, but there are many that are pretty obvious to everyone. Whatever the case may be, I was pretty disgusted at the time of those posts, and while I still plan to do away with TV, I will go to the theater to see new films if I know beforehand that they will be worth watching. It is a fine line and hard one to tread. There is nothing I hate more than supporting bad habits of destroying an artform for the sake of popularity beyond what is necessary for the film to be produced and distributed decently.

That aside, there is a more pertinent issue with director's that I have, about exploiting the young and the gullible to do things for an already brain-dead film; but that is another argument. These things require a long explanation that nobody will read anyway, or none at all.

Yes, sorry about that, I wasn't sure how to phrase it.

So are you arguing that movies should be forms of art, and are not simply to entertain? (and artistic as a bonus) What's wrong with being entertained solely for the enjoyment?

That being said, I loved Batman Begins too, great movie.

I thought the phrasing was almost poetic.

Watching the first Fantastic Four in a few hours. God bless Channel 4.

What should I be expecting?

Originally Posted by Grod

Yes, sorry about that, I wasn't sure how to phrase it.

So are you arguing that movies should be forms of art, and are not simply to entertain? (and artistic as a bonus)

Not really. You see, entertainment is only entertaining because it is art; just like music. If the composer is not an artist, you end up with noise and nonsense. This raises many questions, but more on that next.

Originally Posted by Grod

What's wrong with being entertained solely for the enjoyment?

This is what I do. As I said all entertainment is art, but there is a force here at work; when corporations step in and make decisions about what sells and what doesn't, quality is lost. For example in pop music you have a system that works on spitting out maximum efficiency with sales; compromising creativity by rehashing and recycling and preying on public prejudice and laziness.

You must understand that all artistic movies are entertainment; you may or may not like some, as with all art, but when the vision of the creator is compromised by either intervention or personal interference (based on fear of ridicule by viewers, and especially by the movie companies) the soul of the movie is stripped away and you are left with a compiled list of typically successful scenarios. For example if you cut action scenes from some of the best action films and sloppily pasted them together and named it "destroyer", you have a motion picture company film that, while still having some entertainment value, is deviod of the real quality that makes exceptional films.

In music, they take away the instruments, creativity with 10 minute songs, complex solos, meaningful lyrics, and simply recruit those who will be famous for 5 minutes. Chop it up and sell each piece for the full price. When you pay for a film that has no cohesive vision, it is the same as paying full price for a car that will only last for a day, and runs terribly withal. We as consumers must demand quality or we will not get it. The cable company is still trying to take over theaters by charging you 50 dollars to watch films before they are released. Things like this will eventually happen because the majority of people do not understand quality and how it is compromised in business whenever the consumer will allow it.

Originally Posted by Never

You must understand that all artistic movies are entertainment

Would you call a didactic film entertainment?

There are other purposes to art than entertaining an audience.

I never implied that there weren't; and besides, learning can be entertaining.

Even supposing you are right and take my "All" statement literally, you are really just splitting hairs for I do not know what reason. A company has no good reason to make learning films for a niche. A filmmaker does that. Hence my point can be restated in that context.

I do apologise, I assumed that you were encompassing all artistic films when you said...well...all artistic films.

That big companies with commerical motives can ruin the art behind the film-making process is hardly news.

Thanks for the info and your delightful rolling eye thingy.

That's what I'm here for.

I Am Legend.

As I said in the thread dedicated to it, my overall reaction was: Erm, meh.

Finding Nemo.

Great movie

You just watched it?

In the same vein, Flushed Away surprised me.

Just tonight I saw gladiator. Oh gosh, the ending makes you cry a bit, doesn't it? (tear)

Gladiator ended beautifully. 300 the film almost tried to emulate it (wheat fields, lover, child...etc), which was disappointing.

Originally Posted by Siиdяed

Gladiator ended beautifully. 300 the film almost tried to emulate it (wheat fields, lover, child...etc), which was disappointing.

yeah, not to mention so many quotes they want you to remember... "come back with your shield, or on it" "they called themselves 'immortals', so we put their name to the test", "'this is madness!' 'this...is...SPARTAAAAAA!!!!! ' " the list can go on for a while.

Originally Posted by Siиdяed

You just watched it?

In the same vein, Flushed Away surprised me.

haha if that was directed at me, no I've seen it before it's just been awhile since I've seen it

pulp fiction i think

i don't watch movies

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

Originally Posted by Grod

National Treasure: Book of Secrets

I can't wait to see this one. Looks really good!


I finally watched 300, and it was pretty much what I expected after seeing all the hype and clips and everything. Not bad.

Land of the Dead

Dawn of the Dead

Originally Posted by Burns

I can't wait to see this one. Looks really good!

It's great -- every bit as good as the first one, which is one of my favorite movies. It's rare for a sequel in this vein of movies to match or surpass the original.

Night at the museum, well good film.

Originally Posted by Jdeadevil

Night at the museum, well good film.

Haha, even though it's intended for kids I like that movie too.

Rescue Dawn - an interesting role, especially after seeing Christian Bale as Batman. It was based on a true story, and I found it interesting. One of those movies where I'm critiquing his actions as I'm watching it. "Don't throw the gun in the river! Even if it's wet, if you point it at someone, they won't know the difference!"

And just before that, Stardust. Wonderful movie! Highly enjoyable!

Juno <3