[h8kurdt]

Oh Sev, you really do take things to heart when someone dislikes (not even that harshly really) something you love don't you.

Bless.

[!@#$%!]

i sort of agree with some of the things gogol bordello said

the fact that it’s a sequel does hamper things. forces you to remember stuff that you shouldn’t need. could have been shown a little instead of just told (in very small letters). i know the original movie well so i didn’t need to ask myself— “who is this guy the dude is killing?” — but non-fans had to, and did not understand.

the lines that leto spouted appeared as serious bullshit but not really. he’s been described as having been modeled after a silicon valley entrepreneur— and yeah he’s like an elon musk gone bonkers.

the problem with not understanding what he’s saying, again, comes from this being a sequel, and the background not made fully clear. we know from the original that replicants were being used to conquer new words. leto here throws that back in but again it’s telling not showing. and it’s a bit too much information to just tell. could have used some of the time from the mood shots to show.

so even near the end when deckard asks where are we going and the sociopath android says “home”, took me a bit to realize they were going off world not to tyrell headquarters (or wherever their company headquarters were). from what happens here, the pools, the new model revealed etc, it would look like hq building is on earth.

as for the need for harrison ford— all that he does in the end is go to the dotter. his job is basically to inform sad eyes that he’s not the messiah. and it provides a nice nostalgic filler but it’s not really essential to the plot is it? i mean, i loved the whole part where he’s in it, enjoyed the most his line about the dog, but that’s just candy for fanboys like me. and why did he have to be the last shot of the movie? i don’t know. the whole rigamarole about him being tempted with cgi rachel is just a ploy for him to reveal the whereabouts of the baby. it’s all about the damn baby. he’s a diversion— a great one for fans, but a diversion in the end.

it’s a wonderful movie and i enjoyed it greatly but it does have its limits. rather than going into denial of other perspectives i find more interesting to see why people read things in certain ways.

[demonrail666]

 

Dog Star Man

One of those films where I sort of forget I'm watching a film while watching it. Saw it on a big screen so the hugeness just became even huger.

 

[!@#$%!]

^^ i remember starting that, and quitting midway, and now i’ve forgotten it

it as from a dvd on an old tv, before i got a thx plasmaand as forever corrupted, so pretty confined

so— how was it?

[demonrail666]

This was a proper projection in a cinema club. Very clean print. It's something that either absorbs you or it doesn't. Some people did walk out, which is normal with a film like this. No reflection on them or the film; it either grabs you hard or it drives you to distraction. But if you can zone into it, it's a real epiphany film.

[gogologogolo]

Gogol Bordello. Hah!

I think the best parts of the movie (as in the original), are the part where the movie is exploring the atmosphere of cyberpunk dystopian LA. As far as I'm concerned the movie did that so well that it didn't need much of a story. It seems that by tying it in to the first movie they constrained themselves. Part of what I liked about the first movie was how they left whether Deckard was a replicant or not ambiguous. Now that it's basically canon, it sort of takes something away for me.

Part of my criticism stems from my sheer technical incredulity of what's going on in the movie. What would be the point of building replicants with fully functioning sex organs? Why would the replicants being able to reproduce be the thing that causes a revolution, when the replicants apparently have to listen to what humans say? They already have human emotions, was that not enough?

Didn't realize Johannsson was removed from the project. Still some great sound design. Hans Zimmer must be a very busy man.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by gogologogolo

Gogol Bordello. Hah!

I think the best parts of the movie (as in the original), are the part where the movie is exploring the atmosphere of cyberpunk dystopian LA. As far as I'm concerned the movie did that so well that it didn't need much of a story. It seems that by tying it in to the first movie they constrained themselves. Part of what I liked about the first movie was how they left whether Deckard was a replicant or not ambiguous. Now that it's basically canon, it sort of takes something away for me.

Ok, THIS is a legitimate complaint that I can totally understand and respect. I wasn’t old enough to go to R-rated movies when the first BR came out, so I’m not sure about this, but I *believe* the “is he or isn’t he?” element of the ending, with the Edward James Olmos overdub and the origami unicorn was part of one of the later cuts of the film (“Directors” or “Final” or somesuch), but ever since I first saw that version, that part — that lingering question — has ALWAYS been one of my favorite things about the movie. Indeed, it’s THE THING that took the movie over the top for me, from “solid, classic cult SF film” to “fucking masterpiece and one of the best movies ever.” (Well, OK, that and Rutger Hauer’s phenomenal performance as Roy Batty.)

When I first hear that “2049” was going to definitively answer that question, I was SUPER wary, and even a little bit pissed off. The original is a masterclass in cerebral storytelling from eons before the likes of “Inception” because it left reality in the hands and minds of the viewers. I was NOT ready to be happy about the answer to this question.

But I personally feel that it was handled beautifully, and it won me over. Partially because Deckard was such a smart part of the actual narrative, and that “is he/isn’t he” question was replaced by several other, larger questions aboit life and humanity and society and, y’kbow, rights.

[/quote]
Part of my criticism stems from my sheer technical incredulity of what's going on in the movie. What would be the point of building replicants with fully functioning sex organs? Why would the replicants being able to reproduce be the thing that causes a revolution, when the replicants apparently have to listen to what humans say? They already have human emotions, was that not enough?
[/quote]

***SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN BLADE RUNNER 2049 AHEAD***

...
..
.

Ok, well... No offense, but I think you may have missed something along the way. Not all replicants “obey” and even those who do (like K) have the capacity to not obey. Meaning, they have free will. Meaning, they’re just slaves. Mass-marketed slaves.

The point of the “messiah” child is that it symbolizes that (to quote Jurassic Park in that one scene everyone quotes) “life finds a way.” And if these Replicants are capable of creating life, they are evolving. So they’re not tools. They’re people. And the “messiah” child is a symbol of this that the older replicants (who, by the way, are totally not under any obligation or compunction to obey anything or anyone) want to use to ignite a revolution. Obviously all replicants, new and old, are capable of rebelling, lying to their “owners” and so on. The child is a way to wake them up from their existential sleep, and show them that they are deserving of freedom.

It’s a bit grandiose, and what we see in 2049 is — potentially — just a kind of interlude between this x-factor event (the natural birth of a replicant, by replicants) and the “Revolution” that those cave-dwelling old school Replicants who rescued K and tasked him with killing Deckard are hoping to kickstart.

But K/“Joe” obviously has free will. He made a different choice. He Kobayashi Marued the operation, and did something different.

Abyway, the Wallace character wants to create Replicants who can reproduce because he has a god complex and he wants to take over the universe. Reproducing replicants would exponentially increase his rate of productivity. He *needs* that to happen in order to meet his own personal, insane goals of playing God, and to meet his practical goals of, ah, taking over the galaxy.

Both sides want and need the key, the “messiah” child.
The biblical parable of all of this is pretty clear, but really, I think if you’re wondering why a reproducing replicant is so important, you might have missed something in the movie. Which nobody could possibly blame you for. I mean, I waited for this fucker for eons and went at my earliest possible opportunity, and even though it had my complete and undivided attention from beginning to end, it was LOOOONG.

Maybe a re-watch is in your future?

Didn't realize Johannsson was removed from the project. Still some great sound design. Hans Zimmer must be a very busy man.

Yeah, I expect so. He seems to do everything these days. Think he was booted from Justice League in favor of Danny Elfman, which seems like a gargantuanly stupid idea. But whatever.

I was REALLY looking forward to a Johannsson score, and I was bummed when I heard he wouldn’t be involved. Big time. The “Arrival” score has been in rotation for the better part of a year now. A-fuckin’-maxing.

Still, Zimmer rarely doesn’t do an incredible job, and I loved the score and sound design as well. Might even buy it.

[h8kurdt]

Originally Posted by gogologogolo

Didn't realize Johannsson was removed from the project. Still some great sound design. Hans Zimmer must be a very busy man.

From what I know (which isn't much) he doesn't actually do much of a score per film. He has a fair few "underlings" who will write pieces and he'll approve of it etc. I think it's only a few songs that he actually 100% scores himself.

Think about it, it's not like he's gonna be holed up beavering away at 3-4 films a year always trying to write something new.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

From what I know (which isn't much) he doesn't actually do much of a score per film. He has a fair few "underlings" who will write pieces and he'll approve of it etc. I think it's only a few songs that he actually 100% scores himself.

Think about it, it's not like he's gonna be holed up beavering away at 3-4 films a year always trying to write something new.

Most of his songs are pretty elemental and basic too. Like, the “theme” from Batman Begins/Dark Knight/Dark Knight Rises was really just two notes, played in repeated swells between sort of ambient horns and drums and the occasional segment of feedback.

Ditto for Man of Steel (eight notes that time), and I forget what he did for Interstallar and Inception and Gladiator and the other million films he’s worked on.

I do with Johan Johansson would have had the BR 2049 score. Seemed like a match made in heaven. Maybe he’ll release what he was working on for it at some point. I’m not sure if the early trailers — pre-Johannson’s departure — featured his music, but they seemed to be based on reimaginings of the original Vangelis score. That score doesn’t turn up until the very end of the movie, so I wonder if those trailers do contain snippets of what Johan was putting together for the film. Hmm.

Anyway, if he were to release a BR-centric project, or a collection of unused demos, I’d totally buy that shit.

That Arrival soundtrack is one of the best I’ve heard in recent memory.

[demonrail666]

 

Shaft

Enjoyable enough but of more interest now for its almost documentary-like location footage of 70s Harlem and Greenwich Village.

 

[ilduclo]

Nice soundtrack, too

[Severian]

“They got SHAFT... up to here”

Uh. Wow. I didn’t realize how aggressive the Shaft innuendo was until just now. Yikes.

[Severian]

Also, “SHAFT’s his name, SHAFT’s his game” doesn’t even make a tiny amount of sense. Not even as innuendo. That’s just blah! Words!

[Severian]

Originally Posted by h8kurdt

Oh Sev, you really do take things to heart when someone dislikes (not even that harshly really) something you love don't you.

Bless.

Not really personally. Like, I don’t feel hurt. I just get enraged beyond belief when people look at something that is obviously high-quality and dismiss it for stupid reasons.

I don’t think anyone’s really done that in this case though, so... no.

If I did take it personally, then I would have serious beef with Symbols for not liking Dark Knight. But I don’t.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

i sort of agree with some of the things gogol bordello said

the fact that it’s a sequel does hamper things. forces you to remember stuff that you shouldn’t need. could have been shown a little instead of just told (in very small letters). i know the original movie well so i didn’t need to ask myself— “who is this guy the dude is killing?” — but non-fans had to, and did not understand.

the lines that leto spouted appeared as serious bullshit but not really. he’s been described as having been modeled after a silicon valley entrepreneur— and yeah he’s like an elon musk gone bonkers.

the problem with not understanding what he’s saying, again, comes from this being a sequel, and the background not made fully clear. we know from the original that replicants were being used to conquer new words. leto here throws that back in but again it’s telling not showing. and it’s a bit too much information to just tell. could have used some of the time from the mood shots to show.

so even near the end when deckard asks where are we going and the sociopath android says “home”, took me a bit to realize they were going off world not to tyrell headquarters (or wherever their company headquarters were). from what happens here, the pools, the new model revealed etc, it would look like hq building is on earth.

as for the need for harrison ford— all that he does in the end is go to the dotter. his job is basically to inform sad eyes that he’s not the messiah. and it provides a nice nostalgic filler but it’s not really essential to the plot is it? i mean, i loved the whole part where he’s in it, enjoyed the most his line about the dog, but that’s just candy for fanboys like me. and why did he have to be the last shot of the movie? i don’t know. the whole rigamarole about him being tempted with cgi rachel is just a ploy for him to reveal the whereabouts of the baby. it’s all about the damn baby. he’s a diversion— a great one for fans, but a diversion in the end.

it’s a wonderful movie and i enjoyed it greatly but it does have its limits. rather than going into denial of other perspectives i find more interesting to see why people read things in certain ways.

The HQ with the pools and such was on Earth.
At the end, sociopath-android was taking Deckard off-world, where presumably he would be tortured or simply fucked with until he gave up the info Wallace needed/wanted.

But yeah, I wondered about the whole “Home” thing for a sec too.

I think they were actually going out of their way not to say “DECKARD IS A REPLICANT,” because all the references to that little revelation were pretty vague. I mean, the plot would have worked if only Rachel was a replicant, and she gave birth to a child that was half human. So, I think they were trying to avoid just totally shitting in the cereal of fans who wanted their mystery preserved.

[dirty bunny]

The last movie I watched was Hellraiser. Such an awesome movie, and it holds up so well (although I laugh at the scene after the house looks to burn down/implode- if you've seen it you know what I mean).
Still gives me chills, and I love the fantasy horror stuff.

[tw2113]

Time Bandits

[h8kurdt]

Originally Posted by demonrail666

 

Shaft

Enjoyable enough but of more interest now for its almost documentary-like location footage of 70s Harlem and Greenwich Village.

 

I remember ordering this on dvd years ago and really looking forward to it. What should arrive but the fucking Samuel L Jackson version with a hammy Christian Bale in it. I don't think I've ever heard anyone mention that film since.

[demonrail666]

I've only seen the trailers for the remake and that was bad enough. The original isn't great but it does have a period charm. Very much a time capsule. Remaking it seems about as pointless as remaking something like Barbarella.

[ilduclo]

Bone Tomahawk followed by Brawl in Cellblock 99....now ready for Chinese rom coms.