General Movies & TV Thread

[Grabnar]

Barbie could’ve easily also been a $15-$25M opener and flopped HARD had they not waited for the right pitch and attached award winning writers and a hot director who’s really still only in the early stages of her directorial career.

Credit the studio for that.

See: The rest of the nascent Mattel Cinematic Universe coming after this lol

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

American Girl Doll: The Movie Musical coming out fall 2027 is gonna make even more money now

 

[Nick]

American Girl Doll: The Movie Musical coming out fall 2027 is gonna make even more money now

You joke, but American Girl could make for an interesting movie with the right story, although I feel like Barbie has taken away a lot of the novelty that an American Girl movie would have. Plus, Barbie is much older and ingrained in American pop cloture for decades longer than American Girl so the appeal was wider.

 

[quinnmac000]

You joke, but American Girl could make for an interesting movie with the right story, although I feel like Barbie has taken away a lot of the novelty that an American Girl movie would have. Plus, Barbie is much older and ingrained in American pop cloture for decades longer than American Girl so the appeal was wider.

The stories are too problematic for that to work.

 

[JungleSkip]

Watched SHIN KAMEN RIDER on Prime last night. What a great time.

(It’s titled SHIN MASKED RIDER on Prime for some reason if you look for it)

 

[Doug A.]

Just watched The Out Laws on Netflix and what a great time! It’s not a groundbreaking movie but a very entertaining way to spend 2 hours. Good comedy and action throughout.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Oppenheimer is the best film of the decade for me so far. Seeing it in IMAX 70mm was an overwhelming experience that genuinely shook/terrified me multiple times. The 3 hour runtime flies by with so many great performances, especially Cillian Murphy. Nolan's output the last decade has been good but not quite the level of my favorites from him, but this is right up there with Dark Knight/Inception/Memento. I loved it and will be rewatching it sometime soon.

Also shared my Barbie thoughts in its respective thread, which it very good! Audiences won this weekend.

Saw Oppenheimer in IMAX this morning and just got back from seeing Barbie this afternoon. Both amazing. Oppenheimer definitely tops it though. Nolan still has this weird fetish for screwing with narrative structure, but holy hell the sound design and acting were amazing. Incredible.

Barbie was just madcap hilarity and of course Ryan Gosling kills it as Ken. Margot Robbie gives an amazing and kind of heartbreaking performance as well. It definitely subverted my expectations of what it would be in the best way possible.

Was worried how the tone shift between seeing Oppenheimer and Barbie on the same day would affect me. Turns out just seeing two wonderful films back to back just made me happy that great cinema still exists.

I'm glad I did Barbie first, Oppenheimer second. I would not have been able to focus on a life-affirming movie after one about mankind's self destruction.

 

[tielo]

Saw Oppenheimer last night, with Barbie up this evening. Oppenheimer is one of those I just wanted to immediately talk about when I got home…not only from a historical standpoint but a filmmaking one. I don’t really have an outlet to talk about the “art” side of it so…

Spoiler: Oppenheimer Thoughts

The first third belongs to one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It’s pleasantly surprising in how bizarre it is, which I was very entertained but also super surprised by. The continuous quick cuts to close ups of nuclear fission/fusion are beautiful and keep things punchy, but there are also several more surreal moments (two of which involve Jean Tatlock) that don’t play like your typical Nolan studio action movie. It plays like a music video, with the dialog having a cadence like a song—it crescendos, peaks and valleys just like music, and the INCREDIBLE score accentuates this perfectly. The soundtrack is the best part of this film and I’m glad it’s not Hans Zimmer again; it’s more orchestral and varied in its instrumentals and I was absorbed by it from start to finish.

The second third of the movie is where the tension ramps up. The Trinity Test is a masterclass in building suspense, again aided by the soundtrack. This is also the highlight of the film’s cinematography; while beautiful throughout, the quick cuts don’t allow you to absorb some of the more thoughtful shots until you get to the sweeping shots of Los Alamos leading up to and including the successful test. This part of the film climaxes with a haunting depiction of Oppenheimer’s PTSD in a classroom building—it’s the peak of this movie’s more cerebral approach and is an effectively haunting scene that I didn’t necessarily know Christopher Nolan was/wanted to be associated with.

Then the third act starts, and it devolves into more standard fare. It’s still a good movie, but it lacks the uniqueness of the second and (especially) first acts. Aside from a few interesting Rashomon-style duplicated scenes that accentuate different POVs, it’s essentially a typical courtroom drama. And while it does come to a satisfying conclusion, the themes and plot lines introduced in the third act feel a little rushed, which is strange because these scenes are omnipresent through the whole movie. This section also continues to carry the quick, rapid-fire delivery of lines/scenes from the music video-type first act…but two hours in, it starts to become tedious and robs some scenes of their room to breathe.

And that highlights a slight problem I had with the whole movie—the focus. It doesn’t fully know which aspect of this story it wants to lean into. The fact that there is a focus on Jean and Oppenheimer’s relationship with other professors (I thought that Josh Hartnett would be more of an antagonist given his constant reminder that application > theory) seems to inform the viewer that this will be a character study…and yet, the film seems to gloss over details regarding Oppenheimer’s personal politics or intrinsic motivations toward leading the Los Alamos project/barreling toward completion of the bomb. The second half introduces more politics and science, but the movie doesn’t really give us too much detail into the external political factors, either…not enough to classify the film as a true period piece. Then when the part that classifies as courtroom drama starts, it feels like it has its whole own beginning, middle, and end again because so many more character motivations are introduced and then concluded all in the last hour. I walked away learning a little more about the historical context of the situation and a little more about Oppenheimer, but not a deeper understanding of this story like the best biopics (JFK comes to mind) do.

I know people have loved the acting and it’s true that everyone brings their A-game. Controversially, however, I think Cillian Murphy is being slightly overrated; he does turn in an incredible performance, but it doesn’t really suit the first part of the film. He plays a great brooding, regretful, ostracized scientist, which serves the second half of the film perfectly. However, there’s a part toward the beginning where Matt Damon is introduced and calls out Oppenheimer for being an eccentric, arrogant, womanizing character…which Murphy doesn’t really convey. Again, great performance, but doesn’t serve what the character needs to be for the whole film. From an acting front, however, everyone else gives it 110%; while Robert Downey Jr is rightfully getting his kudos, Emily Blunt probably gave the most “interesting” performance to me.

Overall, this is an important movie not just because of the subject matter but because of what it represents—a return to form for large, serious Hollywood films. It’s absolutely worth seeing in the theater, possibly multiple times. For about 60 minutes I was convinced I was watching a masterpiece unfold before my eyes…by the 120-minute mark, I knew this was something great if not a bit more conventional than I had hoped for…and then by minute 180 I had enjoyed what I had seen, and was moved by what I had seen, but had a finished product that was less interesting than the beginning had me believe.

I dont know if I’d watch this too many times at home, but it needs to be seen in Dolby at the very least—and I think I’ll try to see it again before it leaves the theater. A solid 8/10.

About the last part of the movie:

Spoiler

You must know Nolan wrote the script from Oppenheimer's perspective (in the I form) and it explains why you hear him being called eccentric, etc but he doesn't overly act like that as he won't perceive himself like that. You can see it in the action of the characters around him and definitely from the women in his life. I think his performance is perfect.
As I stated in a previously reaction on the movie, I know a ton about the "courtroom" part of the movie and there is a ton of information squired into the last hour. Going in deeper wouldn't make the movie watchable.
I also see often people want to see or know how Oppenheimer felt about what he has done but going by his personality trades he doesn't feel remorse or joy and it is hinted at. It also is show in visuals and sounds. Going either way in a big way would make him a villain or a hero and would hurt the movie as he is neither. What he is is a pawn that is played, used and thrown away by the government he worked for. The most important man in the world is devalued to nothing by the ego's of Lewis Strauss and President Truman.

 

[Imperius]

If you’re not watching Righteous Gemstone, what are you doing with your life? Such a great show.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

If you’re not watching Righteous Gemstone, what are you doing with your life? Such a great show.

I just started Vice Principal, so I’m working my way up the Danny McBride train!

 

[Jerroddragon]

A sequel series to Castlevania, looks amazing

 

[Jerroddragon]

Saw the New TMNT

The ending is kinda....you've seen it before but the set up and art style are very well done. The action at points is more violent then kinda what I expected from this art style. I think most TNMT will be happy with this film, its fun, looks great the entire time and most action scenes are super fun and can't wait to rewatch those scenes.

Hope it does well so they put money into the TV show and sequel

 

[TheGentTrent]

I guess I'm glad that the new TMNT film is getting high marks, but I'd really hate for this missing frame animation style (used in Spider-Verse, Puss in Boots 2, Bad Guys, etc.) to become overused by other studios.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I guess I'm glad that the new TMNT film is getting high marks, but I'd really hate for this missing frame animation style (used in Spider-Verse, Puss in Boots 2, Bad Guys, etc.) to become overused by other studios.

It feels like it’s own thing

They have some unique shots and use lightening differently in a few fights

Also the humans and many characters design reminds me of claymation

Definitely has its own feel and glad we are far from everyone making ugly looking 3D like in the early 2000’s

 

[Jerroddragon]

A24's first Musical

 

[Nick]

Halfway through The Bear S2. This show is just insanely good.

 

[SeventyOne]

Halfway through The Bear S2. This show is just insanely good.

It somehow gets even better from there. Should clean up at the Emmys

 

[Nico]

Halfway through The Bear S2. This show is just insanely good.

Nick - wait until Christmas

 

[Nick]

Nick - wait until Christmas

I actually started that episode but it was late and realized it was an hour+. Gonna watch it tonight.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Currently watching a tv show from the 90s; Xena: Warrior Princess.

A lot of people say the third season is where the show peaks… is it really though? First of all it was disappointing that Gabrielle’s first kill was just brushed off in favor for a pregnancy story because the writers weren’t interested in exploring Gabrielle’s psychological issues and the latest episode I watched… The Bitter Suite.

So Xena had a son and because of Gabrielle hiding the fact that she hid her demon baby, said demon baby kills the son. I was figuring that maybe Xena and Gabrielle would have like a big falling out, that the show would start getting more serious… but then this episode turns into a CAMPY (BLEEPING) MUSICAL of all things and by the end Xena and Gabrielle just reconcile like all things are good… I’m sorry did they just forget that their own children died by each other’s hands? And that Ares and (possibly) Callisto probably influenced them to do so? Sorry but while I adore the first two seasons, I’m nearly thinking of quitting right now.