Author Topic: Trap's Movie Thread  (Read 229271 times)

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Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #540 on: August 03, 2014, 12:40:39 PM »
Sunshine(2007)

I saw this on cable a couple nights ago. As I've said before, I'm a sci-fi nut. So a sci-fi film just has to be good for me to thoroughly enjoy it. I loved this movie, a whole lot.

It's a Danny Boyle film, visually spectacular, intensely suspenseful, uniquely plotted, coherent, and decently acted. Notable acting from Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, and Chris Evans.

The sun is dying. A first attempt at sending a ship to create a nuclear event to restart the sun failed with no word or indication as to the fate of the ship. A second ship with the same mission is sent out, and en route, encounters the first ship, intact behind Mercury. Close proximity to the sun seems to have unforeseen psychological effects. And one crew member f**ks up really bad, beginning a cascade of catastrophic events that threaten the mission.

It's hard to oversell the visual beauty of this movie. Every scene is visually unique and appealing, and it all fits perfectly in the context of the film.
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Offline Predator Don

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #541 on: August 03, 2014, 06:47:21 PM »
Okay, as noted above, I did see "Snowpiercer" and it was a worthwhile endeavor. Not for everyone, of course, because hey, what is? But it was interesting and thought provoking after you invoke the suspension of disbelief which is necessary for most things not documentary in nature.

Now...this evening I did see "Guardians of the Galaxy" and it was pretty much as advertised and promoted.

Refreshingly, it did not waste very much time at all with origins and backgrounds of characters and got on with the actual story rather quickly. Contrast with, say, "Captain America, The First Avenger" which was just about 1/2 and maybe even 2/3's origin related. It was a good picture but you found yourself wishing that the producers/director would just hurry up and get on with the story. Guardians interspersed a modicum of character origin throughout the film (and in the case of Groot, none at all) and was way more than 85% actual story. Very nice trick, that.

There is a lot of comedy...a lot of funny lines and sequences. My favorite one involved the acquisition of a prosthetic leg during the prison break sequence. My daughter liked the Groot facial toward the end of the movie. But there was a lot more and I almost certainly missed a few due to the inevitable audience noise in the theater. There was at least one seriously off-color joke about a black light and Jackson Pollock art that would have made no sense at all to those unfamiliar with both references. And there was a joke that involved identifying the female lead as a "whore." More (unnecessary) bad language like that than I cared for my daughter to hear but that's the way of the world these days so there it is.

Links to other Marvel Cinematic Universe movies: Thanos and The Collector. Both of these characters make fairly substantial contributions to this story compared with the snippets we have seen at the ends of other movies. (And yeah, there are two after movie sequences in this one. Both are comedy only and do not provide hints about future events.)

As promised, lots of action and darned if the CGI just doesn't keep getting better and better to the point of my not even thinking, "Wow, great CGI" or "Wow, that CGI sucked and was really distracting." Instead it really helps with the inevitably necessary suspension of disbelief...you just experience one mind blowing visual after another and they look so believable that you just accept what you are seeing and move on.

I could describe more but that would not really build a case for anyone to see it or not. This is one of those films that you are either attracted to or you aren't and all I can say is that if you are attracted to it you will enjoy it and if you aren't you may find that it is surprisingly entertaining. When it comes out on disc I will probably spend the extra bucks to get a blue ray version because I will want to see it in all of its glory on the high def big screen.

1. LOVE the thread....it really is nice to have an idea what is WORTH watching and what is trash, BEFORE spending big money...which is what they charge nowadays at the theater.


Yes, it is and I appreciate every commentary that I read here.

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2. Can't wait to see Guardians of the Galaxy, in part knowing it will be good because of Trap's recommendation.

Well, a bit premature but now I can say that I have seen it and it most certainly does have my endorsement.

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3. With it having reached 27 pages, is it time for a thread, like perhaps? "Trap's movie thread II" Or trap's Movie thread, the Sequel?

Umm, sorry but no. This is my legacy to the trivial (because, hey, it's entertainment) and I won't have it any less monumental.

Ok...I watched it this afternoon and happy to report it is as advertised. Trap did a great job describing the events (as he always does) but I'll add there is something for the heart strings if the wife ( sorry females for the stereotype) doesn't think this is her type of flick. I thought the humor was good, although I could have done without a couple of words. I also watched it on IMAX, which was a treat because of the fantastic special effects.

I enjoyed how the actors were introduced as I found myself absorbed in the movie as we learned their backgrounds. It was well done. I also will watch it again.....there is actually a lot going on during the movie in regards to the cast of characters, so I know I missed some nuances.

The only part I found disappointing were the extra endings. Marvel probably laughing over this one.
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Offline trapeze

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #542 on: August 03, 2014, 10:26:49 PM »
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3. With it having reached 27 pages, is it time for a thread, like perhaps? "Trap's movie thread II" Or trap's Movie thread, the Sequel?

Umm, sorry but no. This is my legacy to the trivial (because, hey, it's entertainment) and I won't have it any less monumental.

Because sequels rarely live up to the originals ;')

Oh, wow...trivial monument...I made an oxymoron.
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Offline trapeze

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #543 on: August 03, 2014, 10:38:43 PM »
So, okay...IDP and I are both serious sci-fi aficionados apparently (guess I will have to see "Sunshine") so here's a game to play:

Name three and only three sic-fi novels (includes complete series) that you would like to see get the full-on Peter Jackson "Lord of the Rings" film treatment. Must not have had the big screen treatment before so no remakes allowed. I could have named a couple of dozen here but I am making three the limit which forces me to pick the books I have enjoyed the most which I also think could make a proper transition to the screen. And no fair naming books which could have but didn't make your list.

I will start with:

1) Ringworld by Larry Niven,

2) Riverworld by Phillip Jose Farmer and

3) Marooned In Realtime by Vernor Vinge

Any other sic-fi readers out there want to take a swat at this?
In a doomsday scenario, hippies will be among the first casualties. So not everything about doomsday will be bad.

Offline Alphabet Soup

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #544 on: August 03, 2014, 10:49:07 PM »
You had me at "Ringworld" ;')

Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #545 on: August 03, 2014, 11:02:13 PM »
Yeah, damn, Ringworld is already taken.

Ann McCaffery's Dragon-riders of Pern. ( yeah this is inbetween fanasy and sci fi)
Piers Anthony  Xanth Series ( always fun, lots of stupid puns)  or  "on a Pale Horse" (and ignoring the others in the series)
Orson Scott Card's Worthing Saga.

Yeah yeah thats four. So sue me. Thats what you get for stealing Ringworld. Integral Trees also would be wonderful..




Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #546 on: August 04, 2014, 09:14:04 AM »
I sort of lump fantasy into the sci-fi category with this selection, but I would LOVE to see "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever" by Stephen R. Donaldson in film form.

That series (particularly the first three books, but really - all of the first six if I had my way) introduced me to the concept of the anti-hero when I was a teenager, and had a huge impact on expanding my love for fantasy beyond Tolkien. I read those six books four times through, and they hold up well. He wrote four more in the series many years later, but I haven't read them and I've heard they aren't as good.

So my entry will be "Lord Foul's Bane", "The Illearth War", and "The Power That Preserves". As a follow-up, I would submit "The Wounded Land", "The One Tree", and "White Gold Wielder".
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Online ToddF

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #547 on: August 05, 2014, 07:54:35 AM »
Robert Silverberg's Majipoor series.


Offline AmericanPatriot

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #548 on: August 05, 2014, 08:03:06 AM »
I'm a little different than you, IDP.

To me, Fantasy is fantasy and Sci-fi isn't.

I spent the '60s cutting my teeth on Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, Van Vogt and others.
Never got into the fantasy genre.
Unless you count Riverworld in that.

Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #549 on: August 05, 2014, 08:44:08 AM »
introduced me to the concept of the anti-hero when I was a teenager...

Oh Man, I loved the concept and setting of the books, and I did read the ones you mentioned.  But I HATED THOMAS COVENANT.  Anti Hero?  No Kidding.
If I ever met in him real life I would beat the sh*t out of him.. if you are ever having a multi-week delusion - just go with it jerk!
What harm would it do to try? Yes a couple of days of denial?  Sure.  But I think sometimes he was there for YEARS... and after the first time and you get "back to reality" with no ill effects,  you are still freaked about it the next time?  ::pullhair::



Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #550 on: August 05, 2014, 10:00:12 AM »
introduced me to the concept of the anti-hero when I was a teenager...

Oh Man, I loved the concept and setting of the books, and I did read the ones you mentioned.  But I HATED THOMAS COVENANT.  Anti Hero?  No Kidding.
If I ever met in him real life I would beat the sh*t out of him.. if you are ever having a multi-week delusion - just go with it jerk!
What harm would it do to try? Yes a couple of days of denial?  Sure.  But I think sometimes he was there for YEARS... and after the first time and you get "back to reality" with no ill effects,  you are still freaked about it the next time?  ::pullhair::

He was a loathesome, self-pitying sonofabitch, wasn't he?

But then, if I was stricken by leprosy, causing me to lose every good thing in my life, and suddenly I was inexplicably propelled into an alternate reality where I was seen as The Messiah, I might have a little trouble coping too. Especially when people call me "The Unbeliever". I might just live in constant fear that I was going to "wake up" and have my miserable life back, and that might make me unwilling to fully embrace this new role. Doubly so after having it ripped away and reintroduced.

After all, his "back to reality" was a return to leprosy, disfigurement, numbness, a family who abandoned him, and a community who feared and shunned him. Who wouldn't fear returning to that to the point it might cloud your enjoyment of being treated as someone you don't believe you are deep down?

I thought the brilliance of the character was partially in how he was never able to fully let go of his real-world pain, even as his here-and-now was propelling him into a role that gave him everything he was missing in the real world. Even his motivations for doing heroic things were somehow tied into his conflicting self-image/ideal.

But yeah, real sonofabitch.

 ::thinking::
« Last Edit: August 05, 2014, 10:21:12 AM by IronDioPriest »
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #551 on: August 05, 2014, 10:40:49 AM »
[ I might just live in constant fear that I was going to "wake up" and have my miserable life back, and that might make me unwilling to fully embrace this new role. Doubly so after having it ripped away and reintroduced.

And I could live my entire life in fear of being hit by a truck, or dying of ebola  in a FEMA camp.  I don't. I get up every morning and live my life as if those things won't happen - even if I fear them as possibilities.  Serenity prayer and all of that.   Yeah,  he might wake up - so he should reject any happiness and relief he can find in the meantime?

I thought the brilliance of the character was partially in how he was never able to fully let go of his real-world pain, even as his here-and-now was propelling him into a role that gave him everything he was missing in the real world. Even his motivations for doing heroic things were somehow tied into his conflicting self-image/ideal.

The Character's brilliance was lost after the first book.  At some point you just go with it, instead of ruining the here and now. His stubborn clinging to pain and self-pity, and his entirely self-serving accidental heroism wore on me..  I keep thinking of THIS:

Life of Brian - Alms for an ex Leper

There is no pleasing some people, but I am not sure I would want to watch a person like that for 120 minutes.  Much less 6 times that amount. The books took me forever to get through because of it. By the last one I was reading it just to finish it - I was too far through to quit, and the character NEVER evolved. He never learned the lesson IMO :  Enthusiastically  Embrace the blessings in your life when they come.  He would get close, and then the author would put him right back into self-pity mode.
It was a lesson I guess I never had trouble with-- but perhaps it was useful because I developed such a loathing for Thomas Covenant it probably pushed me even more in the opposite direction.
« Last Edit: August 05, 2014, 10:45:59 AM by Weisshaupt »

Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #552 on: August 05, 2014, 11:36:52 AM »
I might just live in constant fear that I was going to "wake up" and have my miserable life back, and that might make me unwilling to fully embrace this new role. Doubly so after having it ripped away and reintroduced.

And I could live my entire life in fear of being hit by a truck, or dying of ebola  in a FEMA camp.  I don't. I get up every morning and live my life as if those things won't happen - even if I fear them as possibilities.  Serenity prayer and all of that.   Yeah,  he might wake up - so he should reject any happiness and relief he can find in the meantime?

I always assumed that's why the author afflicted Covenant with leprosy - an affliction so horrific and far outside the experience of the reader that the character's hopelessness and ruined self-image would be self-evident.

I found Covenant fascinating in a morbid way, and uniquely complex beyond just about any heroic figure in the genre.
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #553 on: August 05, 2014, 07:51:56 PM »
Ild Man's war is coming to Sci Fi

I very much enjoyed it in book form in a "Starship troopers" don't take it all that seriously kind of way ..

Offline trapeze

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #554 on: August 07, 2014, 03:07:34 AM »
Okay, second round (since I made the rules for this I get to amend them):

1) The "Foundation" series by Isaac Asimov (which thanks to the later books would also get to include the robot stories involving R. Daneel Olivaw) This would seem difficult to make into a movie since so much of the plot involves so little action but actually I think that it would condense into a movie length plot easier for that reason.

2) "The Empire of the East" by Fred Saberhagen (which gets to include the subsequent "Books of Swords" series). And, face it, the Beserker series was already done what with the "Terminator" franchise (although Harlan Ellison also claims to have had the original idea from which the movie was conceived, i.e. plagiarized) the only difference being the time travel element. Anyway, this is a fantasy series with its origin roots in science and technology...magic becomes reality through the use of a doomsday type machine in the distant past but remnants of technology still exist and still work.

3) "Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained" (The Commonwealth Saga) by Peter F. Hamilton. This is a sweeping sci-fi space opera that has it all. Two books, over 1500 pages with Dyson spheres and the best Mr. Spock-type character ever in the form of a female police detective. Seriously, you need to read this one and it should be made into a movie.

And about "Ringworld"...for Pete's sake, stop whining. I know that I took the best one but look at all of the other Niven material I left you. And what about Pournelle and Niven/Pournelle? Come on. (I met Niven once. Nice guy. Signed all of my hardcovers including "The Integral Trees" and "Ringworld Engineers" I met Donaldson, too, and have signed first editions.)
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Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #555 on: August 07, 2014, 09:31:50 AM »
Saw "Divergent" on DVD last night,  and I really enjoyed it.  It has the same feasibility problems as Hunger Games, in  that the society the story takes place in is very contrived-- but its written for young adults in school so  we shouldn't be surprised that they like stories with contrived societies since they have to be forced to live in one .. But IMO opinon this story is far better than Hunger Games.  I have not read the books ( but just ordered the Kindle editions .. i liked it that much)


Offline IronDioPriest

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #556 on: August 10, 2014, 12:30:34 PM »
Took the whole family to see "Ninja Turtles" a couple nights ago. The consensus was that it was great fun. The CGI was awesome. Dang Turtles looked like they were right there for real on film. The Turtle characters were great - four distinct personalities, adherent to the comics. Shredder was cool. Splinter was cool. The dialogue was clever. I never expected it to be laugh-out-loud funny, but it definitely was. There were times when the whole place was in an uproar of laughter that lasted well beyond the gag, causing the whole theater to miss subsequent dialogue.

The plot was meh. They messed with the Turtles origin story, if you care about such things. And a couple of the action sequences were WAY over the top - but we're talking about 4 teenage talking ninja turtles.

These two absolutely LOVED it...



Oh yeah, and....

"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means."

- Thomas Jefferson

Offline Predator Don

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #557 on: August 10, 2014, 07:08:20 PM »
So Fox goes from Transformers to Turtles.
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Offline Libertas

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #558 on: August 14, 2014, 07:06:54 AM »
Saw "Divergent" on DVD last night,  and I really enjoyed it.  It has the same feasibility problems as Hunger Games, in  that the society the story takes place in is very contrived-- but its written for young adults in school so  we shouldn't be surprised that they like stories with contrived societies since they have to be forced to live in one .. But IMO opinon this story is far better than Hunger Games.  I have not read the books ( but just ordered the Kindle editions .. i liked it that much)

 ::siren::  Spoiler Alert!   ::siren::

I saw "Divergent" on PPV last night.  There are feasibility problems...the least of which is trying to convince me that after a devastating world war they provide no background or context of wipes everybody out but these survivors in of all places...Chitcago.

 ::laughonfloor::   ::speechless::

Hilarious and stupid that premise is!

And hilarious too that progressive bullsplatter has to take center stage again and create a society of one size (well, OK 5 actually, 6 if you count the castouts) fits all and if you don't fit, well, screw you.  Seriously, how much is this contrived for plot or wishful thinking on the part of the writers and producers?  I mean is it that much of a stretch to think that with Common Core, NSA, the Police State et al that herding humans into manageable groups and then see the Intelligentsia faction enslave the Warrior faction when they perceive the Meek faction as easy pickings and an opportunity to ensalve all groups to the Elitists cannot happen in our society?

Having said all that I do agree it is better than The Hunger Games only because (other than a few points) it is at least a more believable storyline than Hunger is IMO.  And at least the ending didn't leave me feeling hosed like in Enders Game.  So I rate it a decent flick, good, not great.
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Offline Weisshaupt

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Re: Trap's Movie Thread
« Reply #559 on: August 14, 2014, 08:29:24 AM »

I saw "Divergent" on PPV last night.  There are feasibility problems...the least of which is trying to convince me that after a devastating world war they provide no background or context of wipes everybody out but these survivors in of all places...Chitcago.

Actually- they never specify the threat on the outside and in the book it says the gates lock from the OUTSIDE. It may have been a prison like Manhattan in Escape from New York.

And hilarious too that progressive bullsplatter has to take center stage again and create a society of one size (well, OK 5 actually, 6 if you count the castouts) fits all and if you don't fit, well, screw you.  Seriously, how much is this contrived for plot or wishful thinking on the part of the writers and producers?  I mean is it that much of a stretch to think that with Common Core, NSA, the Police State et al that herding humans into manageable groups and then see the Intelligentsia faction enslave the Warrior faction when they perceive the Meek faction as easy pickings and an opportunity to enslave all groups to the Elitists cannot happen in our society?

The Book suggests, but doesn't provide any great detail, that the factions were formed around what human vice should be blamed for causing the Armageddon war - cowardice, selfishness, lying, ignorance, or cruelty. At first I thought "yeah, right"-- but then I realized that the people who somehow survived this would be the reality show loving, screen addicted, non-contributing adults in diapers generation for whom racism is a plausible explanation for any opinion they don't like, so yeah.  I provide as further evidence any high school - where the kids SELF-SORT into factions of geeks, jocks, stoners, thespians, and "cool kids" - so suddenly deprived adult-adolescents might very well organize into factions around who and what they blamed for their deprivation.
So, yeah.  And its based on a book written for "young adults"  who are being told each and every day by their peers to pick a faction - so no I don't think its a leftist plotline by any means. Its an adolescent plot line- and any bearing it has on real world leftist politics is a result of the immaturity of leftists, not the other way around.  ( I just realized perhaps I like this book just  because I refused to pick a faction in high school, and instead consistently wore colorful Hawaiian shirts, John Lennon sunglasses, and a "Don't Panic" pin - mostly to point out I didn't mind - and in fact enjoyed -   being factionless. I think think  of it in those terms of course.  I was just entertained by the irrational hatred such attire generated in my peers)

Here is a picture of me in High School - lower right hand corner.






 
« Last Edit: August 14, 2014, 08:32:59 AM by Weisshaupt »