The Film Thread

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General discussion thread for film news and views.

Feel free to start a new thread on specific films or more substantial topics.
 

Stavrogyn

White Lodge
Apr 12, 2022
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Is anyone excited about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent? I'm a Nicolas Cage fan, so this sounds like a dream come true (I've been waiting for it since it was first announced). It's getting great reviews, and it was filmed in my country (in one of our most beautiful cities), so there are many reasons for me to really look forward to it.
 

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Is anyone excited about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent? I'm a Nicolas Cage fan, so this sounds like a dream come true (I've been waiting for it since it was first announced). It's getting great reviews, and it was filmed in my country (in one of our most beautiful cities), so there are many reasons for me to really look forward to it.

It's one of those films where if I don't catch it on the big screen I'll never end up watching it at home, either.
 

sneakydave

Waiting Room
Apr 12, 2022
301
220
Is anyone excited about The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent? I'm a Nicolas Cage fan, so this sounds like a dream come true (I've been waiting for it since it was first announced). It's getting great reviews, and it was filmed in my country (in one of our most beautiful cities), so there are many reasons for me to really look forward to it.
Yeah I'm really looking forward to it too. He's made a lot of terrible movies over the years but you never know what you're going to get from him next so there's always something to look forward to.

Mandy has been my fave of his in years followed by Pig.
 

Stavrogyn

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Apr 12, 2022
675
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Mandy has been my fave of his in years followed by Pig.
Mandy was great! I still haven't seen Pig, but he got some of the best reviews of his career for it. I also have two plush pigs (one of them is a boar) who are very eager to see that film! Cage's definitely been having a sort of a comeback.

He's made a lot of terrible films, yes, but my "problem" is that, because of his better and more memorable films (Raising Arizona, Vampire's Kiss, Wild at Heart, Leaving Las Vegas, Face/Off, Adaptation, Bad Lieutenant, etc.), I've started appreciating even his weaker works (like Left Behind and Willy's Wonderland). Now it's becoming harder and harder to be objective.
 

Stavrogyn

White Lodge
Apr 12, 2022
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Is anyone playing framed.wtf? My friends and I have been playing it every day for a while now. It's fun, like a film version of Wordle (I've learned about it from IndieWire), but unfortunately, it seems to have only newer films, from the last few decades. I haven't seen any older classics so far.
 

Stavrogyn

White Lodge
Apr 12, 2022
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I'm going to see The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent this evening, so I'll post my opinion later. My expectations are high.
 

Stavrogyn

White Lodge
Apr 12, 2022
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We loved the film! I expected it to be kind of experimental, which it wasn't, and less mainstream - and it was also a bit disappointing to see that the Croatian coast was used to play Mallorca - but other than that, the film was funny, enjoyable, and even heartwarming. Pedro Pascal won our hearts yet again!

Now I want to see Cage and Pascal make another comedy together.
 

mtwentz

RR Diner
Apr 12, 2022
34
30
We loved the film! I expected it to be kind of experimental, which it wasn't, and less mainstream - and it was also a bit disappointing to see that the Croatian coast was used to play Mallorca - but other than that, the film was funny, enjoyable, and even heartwarming. Pedro Pascal won our hearts yet again!

Now I want to see Cage and Pascal make another comedy together.
Wait, aren't you Croatian?
 

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This Much I know to Be True is an incredible cinematic experience that should be seen on the big screen (if there are any further showings).

Part-documentary, part-concert film, it chronicles Nick Cave & Warren Ellis's manoeuvring of Covid lockdown and how they adapted as touring artists.

And damn did they adapt. Yesterday, the film was screened simultaneously in theatres across the globe. My venue was showing it on four screens and each one was completely packed. Despite the concert atmosphere before the start (and the frankly concerning amount of booze ordered straight to seats) Cave & Ellis commanded total silence throughout the astonishing musical performances.

Beautiful camerawork, intricate choreography, amazing production values. Technical wizardry from the sound engineers is complemented by some outrageously cinematic lighting design.

Bonus points for some sound design work that got lots of Twin Peaks fans in the crowd very excited.

 

Stavrogyn

White Lodge
Apr 12, 2022
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Wait, aren't you Croatian?
I am 🙂 The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was shot on the Croatian coast, namely in and around the city of Dubrovnik, so we hoped that that would be somehow acknowledged in the film, but it turned out that the film is set in Spain, so Dubrovnik was merely used to act as Mallorca.
 

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This sounds intriguing! 😮

It's one of my favourite cinematic experiences, period (despite ambivalence towards concert films in general).

On the other hand, I know someone deeply ambivalent towards Nick Cave who messaged me to say they loved the film.

BTW, what did you think about Doctor Strange?
 

Stavrogyn

White Lodge
Apr 12, 2022
675
547
BTW, what did you think about Doctor Strange?
I've been wanting to message you about Doctor Strange for a few days now but kept postponing it until the right moment arrived... which might be just now.

I didn't really like it. Or, to be more precise, I really didn't like it. It was just too much action for me, from the very first scene, when what I like the most are slow dramas. I wouldn't say I had a bad time or anything like that - it was a pleasant evening which included going to a restaurant, then to the theater, and afterward for a beer, so it's part of a nice memory - but the film itself made me want to clear my mind of action, chaos, colors, images... It made me want to watch a black and white Ingmar Bergman film.

The whole multiverse aspect made me feel like there are no more real stakes in that world, like it's no longer important what happens to the characters.

Also, my friend, who has seen WandaVision, was very upset with what they did with Wanda Maximoff in this film. Obviously, we shouldn't go into details, because we wouldn't want to spoil it for others, and, as you know, I personally still haven't seen it as well, but I just wanted to mention that she felt somewhat betrayed by this film.

I know you liked Doctor Strange, and I wanted to like it as well, so, please, don't take this as me trying to criticize something someone else feels different about. I just wanted to give you an honest account of how I felt. I guess it's just not my kind of thing. For comparison, I wasn't thrilled with Dune or The Northman either, but I still liked them much more than this film.
 

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I've been wanting to message you about Doctor Strange for a few days now but kept postponing it until the right moment arrived... which might be just now.

I didn't really like it. Or, to be more precise, I really didn't like it. It was just too much action for me, from the very first scene, when what I like the most are slow dramas. I wouldn't say I had a bad time or anything like that - it was a pleasant evening which included going to a restaurant, then to the theater, and afterward for a beer, so it's part of a nice memory - but the film itself made me want to clear my mind of action, chaos, colors, images... It made me want to watch a black and white Ingmar Bergman film.

Interesting. Personally I thought the first film was far too bland and (appeared to be) stripped of personality by the studio. There were some great moments interspersed with lots of meh.

For me, Multiverse of Madness has a far more auteurish feel. On one hand, it was paced more like a Marvel film than the first one was. On the other, it didn't feel manufactured like a Marvel film in the way the first one was (insofar as this series used to be fairly samey). You can tell it's a Raimi film.

The first twenty minutes feel comfortably familiar with the fluffy action and genre conventions. But I feel that creates a false sense of security and makes the rugpull that follows this sequence more impactful.

The whole multiverse aspect made me feel like there are no more real stakes in that world, like it's no longer important what happens to the characters.

Yeah I can understand this. Although for me personally the multiversal stakes were background noise to the main narrative of Wanda's personal grief/trauma. I didn't feel like the film was trying to make us care about the fate of the universes (unlike most other films in this series) but the fate of Wanda's personal universe.

Also, my friend, who has seen WandaVision, was very upset with what they did with Wanda Maximoff in this film. Obviously, we shouldn't go into details, because we wouldn't want to spoil it for others, and, as you know, I personally still haven't seen it as well, but I just wanted to mention that she felt somewhat betrayed by this film.

As I said in the message, I'm surprised at how much their tolerance for risk has expanded in the transition from Phase 3 to Phase 4.

They would never have allowed for such divisive/controversial developments before. Whether these risks pay off or not, I'm still really glad they're actually allowing themselves to fail rather than just aiming for a three star rating from everyone as an entertaining but inoffensive and disposable film.

I was worried that the ferocious backlash towards WandaVision by some fans would scare them into reverting to formula but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I know you liked Doctor Strange, and I wanted to like it as well, so, please, don't take this as trying to criticize something someone else feels different about. I just wanted to give you an honest account of how I felt. I guess it's just not my kind of thing. For comparison, I wasn't thrilled with Dune or The Northman either, but I still liked them much more than this film.

Interesting to hear your thoughts on stuff like Mad Max: Fury Road if you've seen it.
 

Stavrogyn

White Lodge
Apr 12, 2022
675
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Interesting to hear your thoughts on stuff like Mad Max: Fury Road if you've seen it.
I've seen it back in 2015, yes, and it's still the only Mad Max film I've ever seen, but I enjoyed and appreciated it. It's an action film, but stylistically distinctive and coherent, and narratively at least somewhat grounded in reality, so that made it interesting to me.

I wouldn't praise it as much as critics do, but I will definitely give the whole franchise a chance, as well as any new entries, thanks to that film.
 

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