SeanC
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Posts posted by SeanC
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I thought Final Jeopardy was way too easy, and then 2 of the 3 missed it completely.
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Never bet against Señor Spielbergo.
While most of the attention will (for obvious reasons) be paid to the meatier ways that Kushner has reworked the whole book (honestly, 'reworked' is maybe not the correct term, he basically just wrote a whole new one) I was greatly amused that he bothered to incorporate a response/acknowledgement of the longstanding joke people made about Tony running through a Puerto Rican neighborhood crying out "Maria!" and only having one woman answer.
They also revise a few of the soliloquy numbers (both of Tony's solos) to have more stuff actually happen during them, which greatly improves the cinematic quality. I especially liked "I just kissed a girl named Maria!" being directed at a passing janitor.
I'd say this is an improvement on previous versions of this in pretty much all areas. Spielberg does so much more with the camera than Robert Wise ever could (or, in fairness to him, had at his disposal given the technologies of the time), the acting is more to modern tastes and I would say is just stronger across the board, and the extensive revisions Kushner made to the book of the musical add way more to the characters.
There was a teenage girl in the screening I was at who delightedly exclaimed "Maddie!" when Ms. Ziegler came into focus during the big gathering at Doc's (I guess she must not have noticed her during the "Dance at the Gym" sequence).
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With Anderson's films I almost always want to have two viewings before I really settle my thoughts on it, and having done so, I think this isn't quite at the top of his filmography (the one-two punch of Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel is hard to beat), but it's fairly high.
I've seen a lot of talk about this as being a tribute to journalism, and clearly it is in a lot of ways, but on a character/thematic level what stood out to me linking all the stories was the loneliness of the expatriates (mostly the journalists, but in "The Concrete Masterpiece" the theme is carried by Rosenthaler).
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Sam has a Steve Martin-ish appearance.
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I feel that Iroquois should have been accepted as an answer. The Mohawk are one of the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, so their land is Iroquois land.
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12 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:
I didn't even bother watching Rostelecom Cup. As if Mariah Bell was going to be on the podium in a Russian held ISU event? Come now.
She was actually the bronze medalist at Rostelecom two years ago.
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RIP Stephen Sondheim. Inadvertently this will end up as a cinematic memorial.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/theater/stephen-sondheim-dead.html
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9 minutes ago, SnarkShark said:
The very ending probably only had impact for comic readers. Everyone else is probably "huh, so its a deaf woman?"
For a non-reader it's "ooh, a mysterious new villain who we'll learn more about next week".
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1 hour ago, AnimeMania said:
Were there people inside the building
No.
QuoteI wish they would start explaining some of the things that are happening before they start moving on to the next thing. Does the fight between Kate's Mother and Armand, or Jack and Armand mean anything? Did the auction or the theft from the auction have any significance?
Those are both very obviously plot setups.
QuoteWhy are the tracksuit Mafia so interested in Ronin and not afraid that the cops might show up.
Because Ronin killed a bunch of underworld people. Already explained.
QuoteWhy did the cops want to talk to Kate when it was obvious that the Tracksuit Mafia started the fire?
There’s obvious questions to ask about why they might have wanted to burn down her apartment.
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6 hours ago, Raja said:
Reconning her in anyway be it making her a conventional mutant with no Kree involvement can anger fans as much as the Inhuman royals did.
Comics readers are such a tiny percentage of the audience, what they think isn't really that important (and I say that as one of them).
SpoilerThey've already seemingly changed Kamala's powerset.
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1 hour ago, blackwing said:
I don't mind that MJ isn't white or a redhead, but I don't understand why her name is Michelle Jones and not Mary Jane Watson. Why not give her the name from the comics?
Because she’s not intended to be a version of Mary Jane Watson; she’s a completely different personality whose initials are an in-joke.
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On 11/13/2021 at 4:01 AM, Zonk said:
If interstellar travel is only possible with spice, like the movie tells us, how did humans get to Arakis in the first place?
The spice is necessary because humans outlawed the use of advanced computers after the Butlerian Jihad. Previous to that it was possible to navigate folding space that way.
QuoteHow come they can't just synthesize spice?
Because it can't be. It's an ultra-rare resource, there are plenty of useful things in our world that we can't synthesize.
QuoteWhy didn't witch-mom use her voice on the Fremen? Did I miss something where they established it doesn't work on them?
It doesn't work on groups, and on an ongoing basis they need the Fremen's cooperation.
QuoteHow can one guy kill all the guards, disable the shields, etc., etc.?
There were three guards, and he's a high-ranking member of the household.
QuoteWhat are those big space tubes? Are those jump gates?
No, those are heighliners, the ships.
1 hour ago, Zonk said:While that is just one of my many questions, it's not that important that these questions be answered. My main problem remains. I think the prophecy stuff (although it's partly made up, it seems to have a true core, with the bloodline breeding and Paul having vision) is just boring and kinda stupid. And I still don't get why it was such a dealbreaker in nBSG for people but it doesn't seem to be in Dune, where it's far worse. I don't want to be down on people for enjoying something. The more joy in the world the better. But I just don't get it.
It's not really prophesy, it's visions of possible futures.
But as to the comparison, a lot of BSG fans disliked what was introduced to them as a sci-fi show increasingly leaning hard on unexplained mysticism. That's not like Dune at all.
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6 hours ago, Bastet said:
The sexism of Mary's Pottersville life being miserable is appalling (she's living on her own in the city and working in a library, all dowdy and bespectacled - the horror!), but the whole thing is ridiculous. George is so vital that if he hadn't come along, everyone in Bedford Falls have wound up miserable? Even accepting that, so what? Why is their unhappiness so much more important than his, so that his life that's been a series of sacrifices and disappointments isn't painfully unfulfilling, it's actually wonderful because all those things he had to give up made all these people's (few of whom properly appreciated his sacrifice) lives wonderful?
The needs of the many, and all that; he's literally keeping people out of slums. The world has always depended on civic-minded people putting the common good first.
Also, for the most part George was already reasonably happy with his life -- he had a great family and lots of friends, and when we see him, e.g., giving the family their new house, he's enjoying himself. He gets periodic reminders of things he'd once wanted to do and feels disappointed, which is natural, but it's only when the whole edifice seems to be crashing down that he starts spiralling.
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8 hours ago, Danny Franks said:
Because they're being presented as both a contributing factor to Atreides' fall and a possible source of Atreides' salvation?
All you need to know is that they exist. The story doesn't suffer for the lack of more detail.
Now, I always enjoy worldbuilding details of that sort, but in the main story here it's immaterial what the other houses' names are, etc.
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3 hours ago, Danny Franks said:
Unfortunately, the plot is another matter. I read about two thirds of the book, years ago, so had vague memories of how the story went up to the immediate aftermath of the attack, but even I was struggling to explain why any of it happened - why did the emperor order the Harkonnens to leave Arrakis so he could give it to Atreides, only to secretly back Harkonnen's return and destruction of Atreides? 'Because he was jealous of our power' doesn't make sense when they've just explained that Harkonnen was making billions a year from the Spice. How were Atreides more powerful than them and more of a threat? I don't know.
Because the Atreides were likeable; Baron Harkonnen isn't popular with anybody. The perceived threat from the Atreides was, as Duke Leto noted, that the other houses of the Imperium looked to them for leadership.
3 hours ago, Danny Franks said:Who are the other great houses that Paul casually mentioned in the final act? I don't know.
Why do you need to know? None of them are relevant to the story.
3 hours ago, Danny Franks said:The grimdark of the army planet, where it looked like thousands were being sacrificed to bless the soldiers, could have come straight out of Warhammer 40K, and that painted a lot of the picture of what kind of emperor this is that we're dealing with.
As an aside, Warhammer is actually heavily inspired by Dune.
2 hours ago, lasu said:I get that - but that doesn't mean she couldn't use her special voice right? Like if I was a weirding woman, and someone one was all, I can't challenge you so I'm going to fight your son to the death, I'd be like, [special voice]KILL YOURSELF INSTEAD[/special voice] and call it a day.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do -- they're among the Fremen, they have to abide by their cultural norms if they want to get anything done.
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3 hours ago, lasu said:
I also didn't understand why Jessica needed Paul to be her champion instead of just using her special voice.
As Stilgar says, Jessica is a weirding woman (Sayyadina, in Fremen terminology). A person isn’t allowed to challenge them directly as a result of that status.
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In her past few events Loena Hendrickx has made a habit of fumbling a jump in the short program and then having a strong free skate that takes her right up to the edge the podium, but not on it. Now at Gran Premio d'Italia she had her first clean short in a while and is even leading that segment; hopefully she can keep it going for a medal tomorrow (given that she only has six triples, anything above bronze is probably a longshot).
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45 minutes ago, healthnut said:
C/P are in real trouble, they were hoping to contend for that third spot with H/B
If you mean on the Olympic team, no they weren't, Christina doesn't have citizenship.
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15 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:
I don't get that. They aren't filming a movie and a sequel like Matrix 2 and 3. Dune is a singular story. It's going to be two years till the next installment. That's a lifetime in show biz. I mean, the second part is ridiculous. I can't imagine it wouldn't kill. You'd think from a production standpoint, they'd want to hit the second part by next spring.
If the first part wasn’t a success, the second part wouldn’t be either. Filming it all at once would have cost twice as much money.
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I liked it on the whole, but it's Wright's most flawed movie. It's most successful in the early going as an Eloise character piece with stylish dream sequences; the horror elements that become increasingly prominent in the second half aren't nearly as compelling, and end up being kind of incoherent once you start thinking about them. I don't think the ending quite manages the pathos it's aiming for with Sandie's character.
McKenzie is great in the lead part. ATJ isn't really given a lot to do other than look absolutely stunning and audition for future musical roles, but she does both of those things very well.
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5 hours ago, Haleth said:
But how in the world did this get greenlit without a commitment that the rest of it would be filmed? Was it considered such a risky venture that the producers couldn't get part 2 financed?
Yes, precisely (especially since Villeneuve's previous sci-fi film didn't do well despite being really good).
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On 10/17/2021 at 1:32 AM, andromeda331 said:
I liked Mary Anne and Sharon hitting it off and having fun. Richard and Dawn not so much. Although I do think they should have bonded over how neat and clean they like everything.
The conflict over neatness I really didn't buy, just because Mary Anne doesn't remotely seem like somebody who would be messy to the point of it bothering Dawn.
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I watched Ridley Scott's 1977 film debut, The Duellists, the day before seeing this, so that was an obvious thematic companion. I didn't much like The Duellists, but The Last Duel turns out to be Ridley Scott's best film since at least Matchstick Men, and possibly since Thelma & Louise.
Also the first screenplay collaboration between Ben Affleck and Matt Damon since Good Will Hunting (joined by Nicole Holofcener) -- all three of whom seemed like very unconventional choices for this material, but the result speaks well of stretching outside one's comfort zone. It was originally intended to have Affleck star opposite Damon in the role eventually given to Adam Driver; and while I understand the idea of playing with their onscreen personas in that manner (and think it would be worth revisiting in a future project), I'm glad that it didn't happen now, as for this particular film I think it would have been a distraction.
Kurosawa's Rashomon will be the default reference for cinephiles, but the way that Scott and his screenwriters choose to approach it differs somewhat from that: there are relatively few scenes that fully overlap, often instead emphasizing different moments in the same interaction; and for much of the film's considerable running time I wasn't entirely sure if the actual events were meaningfully distinct in characterization or events, but this becomes very much the case by the time you get to Marguerite's concluding segment. The tripartite approach also yields some unexpected characterization choices; Le Gris, for instance, comes across much worse in his own segment than he does in Jean de Carrouges'. The film also ends with a clear preference for one of the accounts over the other two.
I really wasn't sure what to expect from Affleck in his supporting role, as in the trailers he seemed possibly out of place, but he honestly ends up stealing every scene he's in. Jodie Comer obviously carries the drama.
Since drama, and especially historical drama, isn't really a thing in theatres anymore, this was destined to be a financial disappointment, but go see it if you're interested in the genre, because it's damn good.
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West Side Story (2020)
in Movies
It's a famous musical. Obviously it's not hot new IP or anything (though most of what's hot at the box office right now is IP dating from about the same period as the musical). Ultimately all you can do is try to make a great product.
I'm not sure a run like that is really possible in the current pandemic box office, because so far it's been brutally difficult for anything other than action/horror to do big numbers. That was a trend that predated the pandemic, but it's only increased as older audiences have been much slower to return (in the nightmare scenario, of course, they don't, which would be extremely bad for the future of cinema).