Film/Video Discussion Thread - The Bear and Badger

poprock

I think Arrival and Interstellar are both up there in the all-time sci-fi top 10. That they came along within a couple of years of each other was quite a thing. Good times for sci-fi cinema.

pantyfire

I like both films mentioned. But i despise the small thriller plot in both. Damon trying to rescue himself in Interstellar and the soldiers trying to blow up the ship in Arrival.
For two very heavy science fiction movies, to me, those bits feel tacked on and lazy.
There’s enough tension in both without them.

I get the whole ‘human’ nature/ignorance/fear of the strange aspect of those plots, i just don’t like them.

RamSteelwood

Arrival is one of them films i don't understand so much love for, to the point i wonder if i need to rewatch it but also don't really want to...it was good to a point but i thought the ending was naff just basically riffing on a bill and ted joke, basically undercut the whole thing for me.

Kow

I thought the whole language part of Arrival was really great, how it shapes who we are and how we not only see the world but how we move though it. An alien language would not be different words, it would be a fundamentally different view of reality to ours. I don't think any other movie has touched on that, really.

davyK

Yossarian wrote:

I felt like there was much more to the science stuff in Interstellar than Arrival, although that may be because I’d been teaching English for a while when I saw it so found the linguistic stuff in Arrival to be pretty basic, and there wasn’t a great deal more to the science in it than that. I found it much more interesting exploring time dilation in Interstellar.

Interstellar played with time dilation to great effect. But apart from that it was a bit other-worldly and appealed to the concept of love being a real force (which is how the message got through to the daughter).

Arrival came across to me as actually very technical re linguistics. But maybe that's because I am ignorant of that discipline. Even with that - the idea of language shaping how we think certainly enlightened me. I always considered it to be a medium over which messages are sent. But it seems the medium is the message as McLuhan said.

Both are great examples of merging tech and leaps of faith which is the hallmark of great sci-fi.

afgavinstan

Okay time to stop clicking here for a bit til I watch it!

davyK

Oh shit sorry.....

afgavinstan

Nah its all good man, more my own fault. It has been out a while and I've had ample opportunity.

poprock

Go in as blind as you can Gav.

Spoiler:

krs

Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar! Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar; Interstellar ... Interstellar? Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar, Interstellar, Interstellar. Interstellar The Wire.

poprock

You’re supposed to mumble some of that in the middle so that we can’t quite make out what you’re saying.

Then we all turn the sound up and get DEAFENED by the next trademark Nolan BWAAAAAAAAAAAAM noise that comes along.

RamSteelwood

tin_robot

krs wrote:

Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar! Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar; Interstellar ... Interstellar? Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar, Interstellar, Interstellar. Interstellar The Wire.

For some reason my brain started singing this to the tune of "Rock Me Amadeus" (with the occasional added "oh, oh, Interstellar") and now I have that stuck in my brain.

g.man

hahaha. me too!

superflyninja

tin_robot wrote:

krs wrote:

Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar! Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar; Interstellar ... Interstellar? Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar. Interstellar Interstellar Interstellar, Interstellar, Interstellar. Interstellar The Wire.

For some reason my brain started singing this to the tune of "Rock Me Amadeus" (with the occasional added "oh, oh, Interstellar") and now I have that stuck in my brain.

Hahahahah same!!!
I fucking loved Interstellar. But Ive only watched once, half suspect I may not like it as much if I go back and rewatch. Very much feels over science for me in that one.
Arrival had that utterly awful choice/happening

with the daughter

It really hooked me in with the language stuff and the sheer...alienness of the concept. I had a couple of niggles about the conclusion. I think I may need to rewatch that one.

davyK

Werckmeister Harmonies is the 2nd film I have seen that was directed by Hungarian Bela Tarr. I got into Tarr via his marathon Satantango with an arse numbing run time of well over 7 hrs. I stumbled upon a YT clip of its comical bar scene that started off ludicrous, monotonous and puzzling - but it nailed me and I couldn't look away. So the novelty of that and of something with that ludicrous runtime caused me to take a punt on it. I'm glad I did as it's a superb piece of work.

This has a more manageable run time of around 2 and half hours. Tarr's auteur leanings show in this film. From what I have seen this has the Tarr look with the now trademark bleak but beautifully shot b&w photography, long takes, lengthy monologues and a love of the close up. And he also seems to use a handful of the same actors - I recognised a few faces from Satantango - so he shares this behaviour with the likes of Bergman, Kurusawa and Kubrick. He sits comfortably with that company as far as I can see.

This has that undefinable quality that make it just so watchable. The cuts are snappier than with Satantango so it feels faster paced but that wouldn't be difficult to achieve...The tale seems to be about the manipulation of a population - so the tale never gets old and will always be relevant - and some quirks in the story which involves a stuffed whale on display (this is no spoiler) make for some striking shots while still representing the themes in the film. It is also funny in places which is another Tarr trait.

It has a gorgeous sparingly used soundtrack that underpins the overall feeling of sadness and inevitability of having to reform and compromise ones beliefs that may be off the mainstream track from the force of "the system" (a theme which is extended into the film's title and is a small subplot) - but still retain a sense of wonder. Well - that's my feeling about it anyhow. This is very much a film that will take many interpretations and I can't imagine it not rewarding a rewatch.

If you want to get into Tarr, I'd start with this.

Raiziel

I’m watching David Cronenberg’s Scanners for the first and it...is...hilarious. Michael Ironside’s scanner face is a cinematic treasure.

davyK

Scanners is a bonafide classic. A VHS darling. Everyone tried freeze framing the head scene. I love it.

Yossarian

Apparently that shot was completed by way of

Spoiler:

Unlikely

Oh I want that to be true. But I don't think it is. Apart from the prosthetic head bit of course.

Yossarian

https://screenrant.com/david-cronenberg-scanners-movie-exploding-head-effect-explained/

Unlikely

If they're right then woah.

Aaroncupboard

Watched Without Remorse this evening. I’m an absolute sucker for a Tom Clancy film (or tv series or game or book to be honest) so this was right up my street. The storyline is slightly formulaic and obvious but Michael B Jordan is great in it and the action scenes have an excellent balance between action and tension. In fact, the final big ‘action’ scene is a really good example of big budget tension.

It’s no Clear and Present Danger but it’s pretty good.

b0r1s

Ooo like a bit of Clancy. What’s it on?

g.man

Think that's Amazon Prime?

GooberTheHat

Anyone watched Nomadland yet? Worth a watch?

Little Franklin

Watched some old films on BFI player. All in the wrong ratio. You'd think they'd take some pride in their work. Piracy is the way to go.

b0r1s

g.man wrote:

Think that's Amazon Prime?

Cheers G

GooberTheHat wrote:

Anyone watched Nomadland yet? Worth a watch?

Started it the other night, but made want to cry it starts so bleak and stopped watching, but I will give it another go. McDormand is so good, so guessing I’ll like it.

Aaroncupboard

b0r1s wrote:

Ooo like a bit of Clancy. What’s it on?

G’s absolutely on it. It’s on Amazon Prime. However, what’s interesting about it is that I remember reading that Amazon spent a fair wad of cash to secure the rights to the film after the potential cinema release was delayed by Covid.

Considering their Jack Ryan series, I sense a potential cross over in the future...

afgavinstan

Finally watched Arrival then. Yep, very good. Need a bit more from what it left me with though. Any good articles?

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