General Movie Questions (and hopefully answers)

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > General Movie Questions (and hopefully answers)

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

escape artist posted:

What movie has the quote "Policing is only supposed to be an easy job when you're living in a police state." (something like that)

I want to say Touch of Evil, but I'm not sure.

"A policeman's job is only easy in a police state" is from Touch of Evil, yes.

# ¿ Oct 10, 2012 21:47

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 10, 2024 21:44

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Reason posted:

This website is really cool, and thank you for recommending it. But I can't seem to find a way to filter by foreign or region or anything like that.

Go to the film database and on the left under "Filters" select whatever regions you want.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2013 17:59

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Repo Man doesn't fit into a genre.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2013 04:32

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

I know nothing about anything but this looks like a list of good Latin American films from 2000-2009 (according to people in New York City but whatever).

# ¿ Apr 18, 2013 03:19

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

DrVenkman posted:

Exactly that. After coming off Casino Royale, which people loved, they utterly squandered it on...that. CR gives them a great jumping off point and they have no idea what to do with it. Am I right in thinking it was a victim of the writer's strike or did I just make that up?

It was precisely the writer's strike: Daniel Craig describes making the movie as "hosed."

# ¿ Jun 8, 2013 18:29

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Dissapointed Owl posted:

They should have just made a scriptless, plotless, fully improvised Bond film.

That isn't what we got?

# ¿ Jun 9, 2013 03:19

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Holy poo poo is it worth it. Beats the gently caress out of Ghosts of Mars.

Okay I haven't seen Ghosts of Mars. But still.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2013 05:06

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Or because they're batshit loving Tom Cruise crazy.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2013 23:24

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

If I were to watch The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, should I watch the director's cut (or whatever) or the theatrical cut?

# ¿ Aug 11, 2013 04:32

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

The Shameful thread tells me to watch Almost Famous but it turns out there's an extended version? Which do I watch - theatrical or extended?

# ¿ Aug 24, 2013 05:19

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

morestuff posted:

Most people prefer the Extended version, but I thought it was a slog.

People describe lots of my favorite movies as slogs, so Extended it is! Thanks!

# ¿ Aug 24, 2013 05:31

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

JebanyPedal posted:

Because it's a movie and I pretend the characters are operating by the rules of the film and not the rules of the real world, it essentially accomplishes the same thing anyway.

The rules of film say that people start talking in a different language when the camera zooms in?

# ¿ Sep 22, 2013 07:19

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Zogo posted:

I watched Dredd the other night and it was pretty impressive. I was unsure of one thing though: When Kay steals Anderson's gun why doesn't she know that it has a DNA scanner that will cause it to not work or malfunction? Why is being disarmed a failure if the gun cannot be used by anyone but a judge?

I don't think there's a good answer to the first question, although when I brought it up in the Netflix thread people said Judges respond to so few incidents that knowledge of their weaponry is not widespread in the criminal underworld. That sounds silly to me because the first time someone steals a Judge gun and it blows the gently caress up, that story is going to be told forever. But whatever. As to the second question, I take it the idea is that if you lose your gun you're too lovely to be a Judge. The issue isn't that they're worried about criminals having one more gun, because who the gently caress cares. The issue is that you don't lose your gun.

# ¿ Sep 25, 2013 04:51

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Plus nobody has to hold a mic or dub the voices in later.

# ¿ Sep 29, 2013 08:05

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

MisterBibs posted:

Almost a book question, but the film made me wonder as well:

Ender's Game. Are we supposed to believe that the crews on the ship didn't even flinch at self-sacrificial moves? I get that we're talking about soldiers who are trained to obey orders, but you'd have to think that someone in a leadership position (especially on the ship with the Big rear end Gun Ship) would panic and break formation/orders. Hell, battles in some eras were all about that.

I'll spoiler this analogy: I can tell a squad of Marines in SC2 to rush a highly fortified base, because they'll do it and shoot poo poo until they die. But I can't really do the same thing in Dawn of War because their morale will break and they'll scatter. Outside the drones explicitly described as such in the film, I think its reasonable that things would new closer to DoW than StarCraft.

Haven't seen the movie and it's been like a decade since I read the book, but those soldiers were on a suicide mission in the first place, right?

# ¿ Nov 3, 2013 23:17

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Mescal posted:

Ok, stupid question. I love apocalypse now but I don't understand what was going on with Kurtz's cult. What exactly was his MO and theirs as a group? It didn't seem as simple as a defection to the other side.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_personality

# ¿ Nov 25, 2013 20:55

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

WYA posted:

Why is Duncan Jones directing a World of Warcraft movie?

So he can cast his dad as the goblin king.

# ¿ Nov 30, 2013 22:14

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

(500) Days of Summer is not a movie about the friend zone, but it is a wonderful movie about the unhealthy line of thinking that leads people to think the "friend zone" legitimately exists and isn't just a handy phrase to use that outs you as someone who does not understand human relationships. Joseph Gordon-Levitt in that movie is equipped with all the misconceptions and faults that makes people unironically use the term "friend zone" and the entire movie is from his perspective so you really get a good examination of the phenomenon that is the modern man who believes in the friend zone.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2013 20:51

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Other options:

Rick in Casablanca friendzones himself pretty hard. Marty friendzones his mom in Back to the Future. James Bond friendzones Moneypenny in most of the Bond films.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2013 20:54

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Final Cut all the way.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2013 05:13

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

DerLeo posted:

Before you could do all editing on computers, how did you produce something like a fade cut?

These things.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2013 18:53

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Yaws posted:

Could I get some opinions on Solaris? The Tarkovsky one, not the remake.

Right up there with 2001 as the best space sci-fi movie ever made.

# ¿ Dec 28, 2013 02:16

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Doctor Butts posted:

The same could be said for just about any protagonist in a B level action movie. I don't see how the movie does anything to critique it.

The protagonist in a B level action movie cracks jokes, is explicitly alive at the end, ends up with the girl, and relates to people easily. The Driver is a loving psychotic wacko who barely speaks or emotes.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2014 19:25

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Hbomberguy posted:

Thanks for the nice responses folks.

New question though: How do I now deal with the fact that giving a poo poo about reading movies is distancing me from the people I hang out with who still only think about them in sheer 'everything wrong with x in y minutes' tactical realistic terms? Because someone just told me that the first Harry Potter film is poorly-made because Ron doesn't just get off the horse before it gets destroyed (in his own heroic sacrifice) - "how unrealistic!" - and there is no response I can give that will not come off as completely offensive to his entire idea of what movies are and how they work. Film studies is part of my degree and I cannot find any people who actually give a poo poo about studying films. Is there a secret codeword-class for actual film studies that I missed or should I consign myself to being an internet weirdo?

Get new friends. Look for people who enjoy reading books rather than people who like watching movies. People who read books also like movies and they aren't as likely to be focused on "tactical realism." Basically you want to find interesting people who enjoy movies, not people who are obsessed with movies but haven't opened a serious book since high school. If you're in college and you want to meet people in classes, take some literature classes.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2014 17:12

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Hbomberguy posted:

I do appreciate the idea you're getting across, but even 'internal logic' is something a good movie can violate for a reason, or to make a point. The movie never tells you how magical chess works when you're riding on one of the pieces, so surely it's best to assume that what happened is...what happens?

I think Blade Runner is about symbolic differences. The whole point is that they are people, literally us, not even like us but humans too, to the point that it's still up in the air if the main character is one. The flawed definition of 'human' is what's creating the problem. You are sentient and have thoughts and feelings that are authentic to you, but if you answer this question and your eyes dilate wrong, I can kill you without conscience. It being super-obvious who the replicants are messes with Tyrell's goal, which was making accurate human replications. Also, there already is an obvious difference. They die in four years. This is not only a bad thing for these honorary humans but probably the underlying cause of all the strife the replicants bring about in the events of the film. Their only flaw is wanting to be more human.

Exactly. Why aren't the replicants in Blade Runner bright green with "REPLICANT" written on their forehead? Because then there wouldn't be a movie. Anyone who gets bent out of shape because a movie violates its "internal logic" needs to ask themselves why they think airtight internal logic is important to a good film.

# ¿ Jan 18, 2014 18:36

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

"Person" is generally used to refer to self-conscious, sentient beings that are not necessarily the same species as us. See for instance India calling dolphins "non-human persons".

# ¿ Jan 19, 2014 00:25

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Fruits of the sea posted:

Where do you guys go for film reviews? Any critics in particular you would recommend?

I occasionally read reviews from the paper and SA for entertainment, and while I enjoy the writing and different perspectives, they are terrible as a barometer for whether I will enjoy a film or not. Some of my favourite movies from 2013 got tepid reviews and I would have missed out on them if a friend hadn't insisted.

Edit: Preferably actual articles. Aggregate sites like Rotten Tomatoes make my eyes glaze over.

Criticker is technically an aggregate site but it works super well (for me). We have a thread about it too.

# ¿ Feb 6, 2014 04:18

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Hbomberguy posted:

Anyway, new question: Has any other recent movie mastered using really, really slowed-down music in the soundtrack other than the slomo scenes in Dredd? Because I absolutely love that music style and the 'things slowed down X00%' subgenre that's emerging, and want to see it in more movies.

Inception.

# ¿ Feb 9, 2014 03:51

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

foodfight posted:

If I have the $7.50 amazon movie ticket from purchasing Robocop and the theater I am looking at going to says 'No Passes', does that mean I can't use my coupon?

Call them with a telephone and ask.

# ¿ Feb 13, 2014 18:26

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

CzarChasm posted:

Question about Looper: Spoilers just to be safe.

OK, so in the film timeline one starts with JGL killing his future self, living a life of crime for ~ 30 years, and growing into Bruce Willis. During this time, the Rainmaker comes to power from nowhere and he's the one killing off all the loopers. Timeline two comes in and Bruce says "gently caress that" and comes up with enough data to go back and kill the Rainmaker before he gets to power, escaping having his loop closed.

Now, Bruce is back in the past and he does what he can to track down Rainmaker as a kid. Fast forward and we see that Bruce is actually the catalyst that creates Rainmaker. He wounds RM, and kills his mom before his eyes. Except he couldn't.

In timeline one, Bruce dies on arrival as scheduled. Rainmaker's mom isn't killed in front of him (presumably) so he doesn't grow up to the evil bastard that ruins Bruce's life, therefore he doesn't have the extra reason to avoid his closed loop. And he doesn't get the chance to create the rainmaker in the first place.

I mean, did I miss something?

Uh forget all this timeline one and two crap, here's how it works:
JGL killed himself to stop the Rainmaker from becoming the Rainmaker, because that was how he stopped Bruce from killing the kid's mom.

# ¿ Feb 18, 2014 00:28

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:

What are some films that performed ridiculously well compared to their budget that aren't horror films? It tends to happen with things like Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and The Blair Witch Project, but I'm wondering about other genres.

American Graffiti.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2014 16:08

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

It's not about the Mansons, but The Doors is set in late 1960s LA.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2014 16:46

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

The one I saw was "can you smell what The Rock is cooking" and it turns out I had been watching wrestling.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2014 03:44

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Treat it like you would treat someone who changed their last name after getting married: if it's relevant (as in, to avoid confusion in a biography) you mention that the name they were given at birth is different than the name they ended up with, but if you're saying they wrote a book or directed a movie, you don't check to see if they got married before or after the book/movie. You just use their current name.

# ¿ May 5, 2014 15:24

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

Restrepo.

# ¿ Jun 9, 2014 20:23

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

The beefier sound is pretty neat, though. That's not to say it's worth the ticket price, or that it isn't worth the ticket price, but there you go.

# ¿ Jun 20, 2014 20:30

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:

Never going to hate Ben Stiller because of The Ben Stiller Show. Never going to hate Jack Black because of HBO's Tenacious D.

And never hate either of them because of Heat Vision and Jack.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2014 21:21

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

xcore posted:

What makes a movie a movie instead of say, multiple movies, a mini-series or a TV show?

I was listening to Filmspotting and the host talks about some Polish "movie" set in an apartment building that is in 10 parts, each about a different Commandment. How is this classed as a movie?

There are similar things in these threads all the time. People always say "x foreign movie from the 60's is an all time classic. It might be 12 hours long but I was riveted"

To me, that's not a movie. That's 4 movies with the same characters watched back to back.

Words like "movie" and "game" don't have "true" definitions written down in some magical book floating off in the sky that dictionary writers can access through lucid dreaming. They're imprecise and fluid terms for clusters of things that often share a lot of stuff in common, but that don't have any precise definition the way you might precisely define a triangle as a closed shape with three sides and three corners. This means that there's no actual, "true" answer to the question "what makes a movie a movie" beyond the fact that, basically, people call it a movie.

So, the reason Dekalog is a movie is because everyone calls it a movie. Your reason for disagreement is that you think movies can't be more than X hours long, where X is something like 3 (although I suspect we could get you to budge from 3 if we pointed out, say, Schindler's List and asked you if it's a movie or a movie plus a short film). This is a requirement for movies that you've pulled straight out of your rear end, though, hoping to find confirmation from us that it or something like it is written in the magical movie sky book. But because there's no magical movie sky book, the only evidence anyone can ever give for the fact that something is or isn't a movie is that everyone calls it a movie (except I guess you).

Thus you can either shape up and call movies movies like the rest of us, or keep making up your own special rules about what gets to be a "movie" and thus keep using the English word "movie" incorrectly whenever an actual movie doesn't match up with your special rules.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2014 02:06

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

No, because trailers premiere in theaters too (plus newsreels, back when those were a thing), and some movies never made it to theaters (like that Bill Murray one everyone is talking about lately). Like I said before, there's no magic bullet definition that lets you pick out all and only movies.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2014 03:24

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 10, 2024 21:44

TychoCelchuuu: Jan 2, 2012; This space for Rent.

And what a pug!

# ¿ Oct 17, 2014 03:33

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > General Movie Questions (and hopefully answers)

«‹›3 »