Seen Any Good Movies...?

[MonCapitan2002]

I just finished watching Moana. It gave me a serious case of the feels and I don't know why. I do think it's an excellent coming of age adventure film, though. I am also very pleased that the writers didn't include a romantic sub plot between the primary protagonists. It is definitely an enjoyable film and one I would watch again.

[Stormlight]

Logan

Definitely one of the better superhero movies around. I did enjoy it but it is honestly way too long. And makes precious little sense overall.

And generally I hate kids in movies but whoever casted that little girl is a fucking genius. She out-acted everyone else. Rarely have I seen such intensity without it feeling completely fake. Marvelous.

[Kyuss Apollo]

On a whim I watched Patterson on Amazon the other afternoon (also, props to Stormlight's review in this thread last year). Nice commentary on being happy where you are. If your idea of a good movie has lots of loud explosions, emotional outbursts and sudden but inevitable betrayals, then you find this movie very boring. But if you are feeling contemplative, enjoy Jim Jarmusch flicks and have 118 minutes to kill, check this one out.

Without giving too much away, I enjoyed the fact that every "Oh I bet I know what is going to happen at some point, because that would be the predictable thing to happen" just doesn't happen. Not even once.

Thank you, Mr. Jarmusch.

[specious_reasons]

I think this was a good movie, but it was disturbing as hell. It's a fictionalized story based in real life, because the director knew he couldn't make a documentary about police corruption.

"Elite Squad" (Tropa de Elite) is a Brazilian film about BOPE, the Elite Squad in the Rio police. BOPE is the organization you bring in when you want the criminals dead. They're shooting to kill, and using strong arm tactics and torture to get the job done.

It's like "City of God" but from viewpoint of the police. It centers on 3 men - a captain in the squad and the 2 men intended to be his replacement.

Captain Nascimento is about to become a father, and wants to get out of the street level combat. His potential replacements are Neto and Matias, two childhood friends and honest cops. Neto is assigned to manage the carpool, and the only vehicle that doesn't get raided for parts is the motorcycle used by the commander's runner to collect the bribes. Matias is a law student who feels he has to look the other way while his classmates deal drugs and perform social services for people of a favela run by a "socially conscious" drug lord.

The story is narrated by the captain, and he is authoritarian and cruel, which winds up making the film seem like it's advocating for a police state. It can be seen in that light, it's a tiny bit more nuanced than that.

Still, I'm not sure it really shook the fascism. It was hard not to grimace at the hard line attitude of the narrator.

[lisarea]

I really, really liked Hotel Dallas. It's sometimes a little too goofy and it's really weird, but stick it out. It's only a little over an hour long, and I don't want to spoil anything.

It's kind of like True Stories, kind of like My Winnipeg, and kind of like a bunch of other movies that would give away plot points if I said what, but it's not really like anything else I've seen.

[Ensign Steve]

We finally watched Moana. (It's on Netflix, FYI)

So good. So fucking good.

Yes, we were high as balls when we watched it. But still.

[BrotherMan]

Lindsay Ellis (formerly know as the Nostalgia Chick) posted a video critique on Pocahontas that also covers aspects od Moana. I thought it was p good.

Pocahontas Was a Mistake, and Here's Why! -...

[erimir]

Still, Pocahontas had a couple good songs.

But yeah Moana was a lot better. It might've made sense to pick a specific Polynesian culture and stick with it, but I get maybe why they didn't want to. If they're going to tell a generic Disney story, it might be best not to get too specific. Perhaps Tahitian or Samoan. The island of Motunui seems pretty similar to Bora Bora and some other Tahitian islands (given the mountain surrounded by smaller barrier islands). Motunui appears to be a valid word/phrase in multiple Polynesian languages. There are places named that New Zealand (Maori) and Easter Island (Rapa Nui), and apparently means "big island". On the other hand, the only Polynesian languages in the film are in a few songs, which are in Tokelauan (We Know the Way), Tuvaluan and Samoan.

They already dubbed the movie into Tahitian and appear to be working on a Maori dub as well. This would seem to be part of the "authenticity" marketing/earning goodwill from the indigenous community as unless they really half-assed it, those languages probably aren't commercially viable to dub into given the small number of speakers who are mostly bilingual in French or English.

(One advantage of the Maori dub is that they can use some of the Maori actors* that were already in the English version, whereas they didn't use any Tahitians in the English version or even more than one or two in the French dub, it seems.)

*Playing Tamatoa, Moana's grandmother and father (although not his singing voice).

[Ari]

Originally Posted by BrotherMan

Lindsay Ellis (formerly know as the Nostalgia Chick) posted a video critique on Pocahontas that also covers aspects od Moana. I thought it was p good.

This was quite good.
It's also interesting how easy it can be to do it right, just don't be a dick. Lilo & Stitch wasn't originally set in Hawaii but the plains of Kansas but upon trying to figure out what would keep Stitch there and not rampaging around a city it was decided that set it on an island and make him heavier than water. They then went to the island and listened to the people. The dance in the beginning is authentic because they literally copied the moves of native dancers that were part of the native children's choir that sings the song.

I've also been suggesting people use the term 'cultural theft' when talking about nasty examples of cultural appropriation, as it makes things more blatant and holds off some of the attempts at bad comparisons.

[beyelzu]

I really enjoyed Moana. As a steeler fan, I will always be in love with Troy Polamalu's fabulous hair. It was cool seeing Polynesian hair on the screen. Disney did a pretty good job of not whitewashing all the characters.

it seemed respectful of the vague Polynesian culture that it used as basis for their story. Including some different body types and hair really made the movie feel like we were watching a Polynesian story and not just a movie idea that Disney ripped off.

I don't know if I'm doing a great job of describing it, but it was beautiful and touching. I really enjoyed the whole sailing cultural heritage aspect of it.

The ancestors of Pacific Islanders walked to the edge of the largest continent on earth, looked at the largest ocean on earth and thought fuck it, let's build a boat.


I find it extraordinary that they were able to spread as far as they did.

[Ensign Steve]

Originally Posted by beyelzu

I really enjoyed Moana. As a steeler fan, I will always be in love with Troy Polamalu's fabulous hair. It was cool seeing Polynesian hair on the screen.

Hair is extremely challenging to get right in CG, too. But this stuff looks so good that you don't even think about it. Like it made it all the way across the uncanny valley to the very realistic side.

[MonCapitan2002]

Originally Posted by beyelzu

I really enjoyed Moana. As a steeler fan, I will always be in love with Troy Polamalu's fabulous hair. It was cool seeing Polynesian hair on the screen. Disney did a pretty good job of not whitewashing all the characters.

it seemed respectful of the vague Polynesian culture that it used as basis for their story. Including some different body types and hair really made the movie feel like we were watching a Polynesian story and not just a movie idea that Disney ripped off.

I don't know if I'm doing a great job of describing it, but it was beautiful and touching. I really enjoyed the whole sailing cultural heritage aspect of it.

The ancestors of Pacific Islanders walked to the edge of the largest continent on earth, looked at the largest ocean on earth and thought fuck it, let's build a boat.


I find it extraordinary that they were able to spread as far as they did.

I think if Disney had whitewashed all the characters, the backlash would've been absolutely massive. In all likelihood, the movie would've either tanked in the box office or cancelled. Still, I very much enjoyed the movie and liked Moana's progression as a protagonist through the course of the story.

Also, Tamatoa and Shiny make the movie awesome. The scenes with him are my favorite part of the movie. The immediate aftermath where Maui is half man / half shark is also a favorite scene, especially Moana's reaction to his appearance.

Also, I really liked the performance of the voice actress who placed Moana. I think she really did a good job.

[Stormlight]

I saw a whole bunch of movies in the last weeks. Some good and some not so good.

The Excellent:

Moonlight
The Man and Matlock's wife already said everything there is to say about this masterpiece! Go watch it!

Aquarius
A Brazilian movie about a 65 year old retired music critic and cancer survivor in Recife. Wonderful, wonderful performance by Sonia Braga!

La La Land
So yes, the hype is justified. If you like musicals this one is excellent.

My Life as a Zucchini
Swiss-French stop-motion movie about an 8 year old boy who after accidentally killing his alcoholic mother is sent to a foster home ... Lovely story, I know!
Well actually it is a wonderful (and short) little movie about trust, friendship and love.

[Stormlight]

And The Good:

Moana (or Vaiana as it's called in other parts of the world)
After many, many years finally a Disney film I thoroughly enjoyed!

Ghost in the Shell
I didn't expect to like this one but I did. It looks great and is generally very well done.

Alive
The first Albanian movie I've ever seen. It tells the story of Koli, a university student living it up in Tirana when he gets called back home because his father died. "Home" is a small village in the middle of nowhere. Worse yet, when he gets there he learns that his family is in a blood feud sparked by an ancestor a billion years ago. And he's the next in line to be killed.
Unfortunately this sounds more interesting than it actually is. The movie itself is not very good but it shows a country that is still virtually unknown. Oh, and the lead actor is pretty good.

[But]

Originally Posted by Ensign Steve

Hair is extremely challenging to get right in CG, too. But this stuff looks so good that you don't even think about it. Like it made it all the way across the uncanny valley to the very realistic side.

The hair looks really good, but combined with the face it looks much worse than "uncanny valley". It's absolutely grotesque.

[Stormlight]

[But]

The rendering and lighting of the body and hair is so realistic that it looks like a photograph of a real doll with a creepy disproportionate face slapped on it. It's a creepy doll.

[JoeP]

[MonCapitan2002]

Originally Posted by But

The hair looks really good, but combined with the face it looks much worse than "uncanny valley". It's absolutely grotesque.

In still shot form, I can see why you can think that. She can look kind of creepy in that image. When she's in motion, it isn't so bad because her expression is constantly changing.

In some ways, the Final Fantasy games of recent years have the potential to be worse since the CG artists attempt to make their characters look like actual people.

[Ensign Steve]

Oh I agree the face is not at all realistic, I was thinking of just the hair specifically.

The heads/faces look like doll heads to me, with the big shiny eyes and smooth plastic skin. I imagined them as singing, talking merchandise toys and I was able to completely get past the grotesqueness.

Except I actually came in this thread to post about What We Do In the Shadows but I think I'll put that in the Amazon Prime thrad instead.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Wait until you guise discover kigurumi.

show spoiler

[lisarea]

Originally Posted by MonCapitan2002

In still shot form, I can see why you can think that. She can look kind of creepy in that image. When she's in motion, it isn't so bad because her expression is constantly changing.

I also think it's grotesque, but I have a general dislike of the whole neoteny thing, where animated characters all have exaggerated childlike features, so I'm obviously in the minority on that. I just looked at some video from that movie, and the exaggerated facial expressions and movement and stuff make it even worse. The details are "realistic" enough that it's really disconcerting. Look at the characters and imagine actual real live people and animals with those features and proportions, making those movements and expressions. Even just the heads are grotesquely large, but also, a lot of them have such huge unprotected eyeballs they'd need to have one of those third eyelids to function like windshield wipers to keep all dirt and pebbles and stuff out of them. They're like attention homunculi, where features are sized proportionately to how long people tend to look at them, and they just cycle through series of exaggerated expressions and movements in a way that would be very alarming if it happened in real life.

The details are well executed, and that only serves to highlight how strange and unrealistic it is.

But that's one of the main reasons I don't watch animated movies very often. (And most anime is custom made to horrify and repulse me specifically because apparently I have some very powerful and influential enemies.)

I'm not saying anyone is wrong for liking them, but I am saying people are wrong if they say it's not grotesque. It is grotesque and I will fight you.

[erimir]

I watched it and not once during the movie did I think "These characters are grotesque"

[lisarea]

Oh, I know almost nobody else thinks that. I'm trying to put the idea in their head, though, so they do.

Think about it. Think about if you saw a real person whose eyes and head were that big. Think about how nervous you would be!

[JoeP]

Fight! Fight!