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The Movie Thread

The sequels read better than it watches if that makes sense.
I remember the sequels did kinda make me go wtf.
But reading the plot points of them again after it made a lot more sense in my mind at least. (Granted not the best sign for a film)


The Animatrix is quality though.
On this film, I feel for something like the matrix I just can't judge it by the trailer.
Its extremely badly written, the end of Loki has the exact same issues the end of the first sequel did.

I remember spending hours talking to a friend after we'd seen it (and online) trying to remember exactly what the architect said and trying to parse it into something intelligible.
 
Usually don't like Western action movies,but Matrix wasn't bad. Will definitely watch that one
 
Yeh, I only rate the first one. The next two I thought were largely forgettable. Not sure I will bother watching this one or wait for it to come out on Netflix/amazon prime.
 
Only just found out that they're making another Matrix film.

I was 15 when the original Matrix came out and it blew my mind. I borrowed it from a mate on VHS and watched it 3 times in a row. It had a massive influence on me tbh, from the soundtrack which I listened to relentlessly on my walkman - and which properly got me into bands like RATM and Rammstein. Also the clothes, I really wanted a long black leather coat for a long time afterwards, but thankfully settled for a superbike style jacket instead, and I remember dressing up as Neo to a fancy dress birthday party at the local football club, tight longsleeve t-shirt, long black leather coat and all.

The Matrix is probably my favourite film of all time for these reasons + it never fails to be enjoyable every single time I watch it. Reloaded and Revolutions were a complete let down in comparison. Felt like a long time between the first and Reloaded, at that age 4 years is an age I suppose, and I remember going to the cinema when I was in my first year of uni to see Reloaded and came out feeling completely let down. Over the hears I've come to appreciate elements from both sequels, and admire the ambition of them somewhat.

I suppose part of the magic of the first was watching Neo discover himself and the Matrix which the sequels couldn't re-discover. Looks like they're returning to that in this 4th film and that could be a masterstroke so long as it's not just a complete re-hash of the first.

It's got me super excited anyway in the hope that it can rediscover the feeling of the first and transport me back over 20 years to a teenage me watching that first film for the first time.... bound to be a let-down now!

Edit. Just remembered that most of my GCSE creative writing exam stories (both english and welsh) were also influenced by the Matrix. Can't remember any of the rubbish I actually wrote (it must have been truly dreadful), but remember using weird character names influenced by the Matrix which probably didn't fit at all!
 
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No Time To Die

Good but sags in the middle and suffers because its hard to believe Craig's Bond would ever fall in love again after Vesper.
 
What did people think of the new Bond?

The Good: the action as always being excellent. The scene where he was climbing the tower to the launch facility in particular was awesome. Car chases as usual were a lot of fun. I thought Daniel Craig was excellent throughout and showed a bit more variety than usual, even if he does hate playing the character. His scene with Waltz in particular comes to mind. Also loved the cheezy callbacks like the Bond, James Bond, the iconic turn and shoot and the tunnel at the end. Also Ana De Armas......

The Bad: Most of the dialogue was bad. Like I know Bond dialogue is always cheesy, but like even tonally there were random attempts at jokes during serious moments. The new 007 in particular was..... painful. Genuinely didn't have a single good line in the entire movie, was mostly just annoying and I don't think we will see the character again. Her scene with the Russian scientist who was also just shite, was awful. Him randomly just getting racist and then her delivering the line "time to die" seems like it was written by a 14 year old on work experience. Also thought Remi Malek's character was unoriginal. His plan was like a mixture of Covid, Kingsman and..... the nanobots from Cody Banks? The "we're not so different" shtick was a bit of a head scratcher and he was introduced a bit late on imo. Thought Malek did a good job with the role though, with that said. The Bond's child thing I thought also needed to be introd earlier if we're to care. If I'm being honest I'd also completely forgotten Lea Seydoux's character and what her story was at the start of the film, which made her being the love of Bonds life a bit flat. Mostly a result of Spectre being a bit forgettable compared to Skyfall and Casino Royale. I do like the kid idea in general for the character though.

I am probably coming off as quite negative here, but despite it being a mixed bag I thought it was a decent send off for the Daniel Craig Bond and I think his story went full circle nicely. Definitely worth a watch, and I am interested to see what comes next
 
Echo those thoughts tbh

Personally I think the bond franchise is going to struggle after Craig, he was kind of the right balance of modern yet "old school" that kept both sides happy.

Bond a interesting franchise I don't think it's strong enough to support itself with any spin offs they might have played, like no one cares about the support characters. I could see maybe a tv show or something
 

Hmm not sure about Holland as young Drake and Wahlberg as Sully? Where's the 'tache?
 
I don't like young drake TBH
Would rather the main films be more around the game age, and maybe do a high budget prequel tc series if the films are a hit
 
Dune:

Well its certainly not the David Lynch version, my wife who didn't know the story at all was able to follow it even with the removal of internal monologuing from that version and the book. Although keeping track of the characters names might be a bit difficult outside of Paul and Jessica. She though Baron Harkonnen was the Emperor and Rabban was head of the Harkonnens. As you've probably heard its about half of the first book and it labelled as Part One this gives everything breathing room but the first 45mins or so is pretty exposition heavy as there is ton of world building to. Its also pretty slow moving but does pick up pace once it gets a bit more into thing.

Timothée Chalamet is great as Paul starting off as confused and unaware young adult growing into a more assured man.

I liked it quite a bit, my wife enjoyed it even more. My only only worry is because it is slow and ponderous it won't find a big enough audience to justify Part Two and Part Three (which is supposed to cover Dune Messiah).
 
I don't like young drake TBH
Would rather the main films be more around the game age, and maybe do a high budget prequel tc series if the films are a hit



It's unwinnable for the film makers to match the game. I think the cut scenes from all 4 games make a pretty good movie without the need to play the games.

Certainly it'll never be able to match the actual game in the eyes of the fans. Most have Nathan Fillion as an older Drake. And he has starred in a short fan made one. But will he be too old to play the lead if this one turns out to be a success? Or as you said a tv series Netflix style?
 
Dune:

Well its certainly not the David Lynch version, my wife who didn't know the story at all was able to follow it even with the removal of internal monologuing from that version and the book. Although keeping track of the characters names might be a bit difficult outside of Paul and Jessica. She though Baron Harkonnen was the Emperor and Rabban was head of the Harkonnens. As you've probably heard its about half of the first book and it labelled as Part One this gives everything breathing room but the first 45mins or so is pretty exposition heavy as there is ton of world building to. Its also pretty slow moving but does pick up pace once it gets a bit more into thing.

Timothée Chalamet is great as Paul starting off as confused and unaware young adult growing into a more assured man.

I liked it quite a bit, my wife enjoyed it even more. My only only worry is because it is slow and ponderous it won't find a big enough audience to justify Part Two and Part Three (which is supposed to cover Dune Messiah).
It might be only me but I quite enjoyed the relaxed pace. Might just be nostalgia and my reveling in how well I felt they translated the setting into cinema. Felt it was well balanced with the underlying tension slowly building. I struggle to imagine how someone new to the story line would experience it though. Also felt the casting was excellent and took it that level extra beyond the wow of the fantastical setting. Really do hope it does well enough to warrant a Part 2 at least even if I have to wait 5 years.
 
It might be only me but I quite enjoyed the relaxed pace. Might just be nostalgia and my reveling in how well I felt they translated the setting into cinema. Felt it was well balanced with the underlying tension slowly building. I struggle to imagine how someone new to the story line would experience it though. Also felt the casting was excellent and took it that level extra beyond the wow of the fantastical setting. Really do hope it does well enough to warrant a Part 2 at least even if I have to wait 5 years.
I enjoyed it, and, if anything, felt that it went too fast - skipping from plot point to plot point, as if they were trying to squeeze 5 hours worth of film into a 2.5 hour run-time, and cutting an awful lot of natural development.
It felt exposition heavy, in a way that suggested to me that they didn't have time to show us things, so they had to tell us instead - whilst when they showed us (without access to a character's inner monologue) it reduced the mystique (eg Jessica coming close to losing it when Paul is being tested; or Paul's reaction, and the time taken, with his hand in the box)
Yes, individual scenes could be lengthy and slow, but the whole felt rushed. Shortening the individual scenes wouldn't have bought enough time to cover the absent material.

It was visually spectacular, and I genuinely enjoyed it; but I felt that its run-time had removed it's soul.
Leto's death should have been a hammer blow like Ned's
There were glimpses, but no more than that of the relationship between Leto and Paul
The film left me with no idea who Gurney Halek really is, beyond being head of security
I don't think the film even mentioned the word "mentat" let alone how semi-omniscient they are
Atreides seemed to have no idea they were walking into a trap, rather than "just" a scorched earth Akkaris
Who really was Yueh? and why was his betrayal the unique key to Harkonnen success?

I've only read the book a couple of times; as a kid when I didn't understand WTF was going on in the Lynch film; and again about a decade ago (I was intending a re-read when I heard they were making a new film, so didn't); so I'm not familiar enough to pick up on specific changes (which, quite honestly, is how I prefer it).

It was a good film, and I suspect when watched in conjunction with the sequel, could be a great film - it just felt weirdly squished, and I wish they'd had the guts to make the first book into a trilogy. This is a film begging for an "Extended Edition" in a few years - ideally in time to watch alongside Part 2.
 
Villeneuve has said there is no extended cut, I think he created the film he wanted for Part One and that it what is on screens. Unlike Jackson who had filmed it but studio wouldn't greenlight a 3 hour and 30 mins film. Hell 3 hours was pushing it back 2001, and filming all films I still no idea how they convinced New Line to get that level of backing, hell the story goes they tried to cut it down to two films and New Line said it was three. Its almost unthinkable even today something got that level of backing and was that succcessful.

Its lengthy feel for me might be from watching the Lynch film (not recently) which does push to get everything in 2hr 17min (we actually get 19mins more here) and if anything feel rushed its that. But I think I agree its certain scenes that feel long and probably think of after the Harkonnen attack its feels drawn out to the end to an unsatifying cut off point.

The splitting into 3 films makes some sense still I do think it needed time breathe in the opening section (even if I found the pace slow). The problem becomes cut off points
The first one's a little easier to find it's after Harkonnen attack. The issue becomes the next cut point which is Paul taking the water of life or the 2 year gap after 9 months with the Fremen and Jessica taking it. Whilst a satisfying conclusion to the film for both (more than this cut off point) is there actually enough material for the middle/last film?
 
3 films would have been an ideal I agree. In fact, the same approach as LotR would've been great- 3 films and an extended addition for those with the appetite. I certainly have appetite for more but I can understand the constraints and feel it was a job well done.
 
I was also discussing with a friend earlier that despite Villeneuve doing great with reception on audience/critics he's really struggled with box office numbers. His earlier hits (Prisoners, Sicario and Arrival) were mainly hits due to their lack of budget but BR2049 really struggled despite the larger budget to do that much better than those other films. Its why WB being so tepid in green lighting Part 2 makes sense.

One day I'd like to understand why BR2049 failed it wasn't poorly received and it was well marketed but nobody turned up.
 
I didn't even pick up on the link between the two. Thought the new Blade runner was also an excellent movie though I missed it at cinema.
 

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