
films n shit
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Re: films n shit
Hey, anyone seen Girl With The Dragon Tattoo? I'm reading the first novel now, and have heard the film kicks ass.


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Re: OT: Good Film
That and Ballard has this sense of obsession to his writing, that Cronenberg couldn't capture. I think it's because his strengths are in the areas of mental insanity, and parasitic disease, not really the sort of emersion in a single tone that Ballard does. IE the Drowned World gets you obsessed with the sun and heat, constantly reminding you of it.LoopStationZebra wrote: Interesting points, and yes that's exactly where I was going with No Country. The film reduced these characters to rather one dimensional figures that bordered on parody. There was a lot of intricate subtlety (a Cormac McCarthy specialty; where in just one or two sentences he manages to speak whole volumes about a character) that the Coen Brothers just couldn't capture.
I too love Cronenberg, but Crash was my least favorite of his films. Ballard was, in many ways, like McCarthy. There were enormous subtleties in motivation that gave his characters a richness that's fucking hard to capture correctly on film.
Don't like all his movies, I think 90% of what he does is cliche ridden crap, but the 10% that isn't is really good. Jaws and Empire of the Sun are my two favorites. He did a great job with both adaptations.I read Empire of the Sun about 3 years ago. It's excellent, and I thought that Spielberg did an amazing job with it. Oh, and while it's quite fashionable to open the can of haterade on Spielberg (just like Stephen King), Ive always enjoyed most of his flicks.![]()
Re: films n shit
i didn't understand the ending to the movie, really.LoopStationZebra wrote:Here's an example where the film kicked the novel's ass in every possible way:
Fight Club.
David Fincher, FTW.
A wretched fucking novel from one of the most overrated, flavor of the week authors. Fashionable nihilism, anyone?
he shot himself in the mouth? and that killed his bad twin? didn't get it. the suicide in the novel seemed kind of a necessity.
i think both works were far from fashionable nihilism. influenced by it for sure, but more like a funhouse mirror of it, and the "bro" culture that would eventually embraced the movie and started their own little "fight clubs" only adds to the irony, in my book.

its a great movie though, still. and i liked the book too. the book and the movie seemed so similar to me, outside of the ending, that i cant understand how one could like one but not the other. i was amazed at how much of the book made it in (mostly all of it save for the ending and some minor details, marla's mom, etc. from what i recall)
im a fan of a few of his other books but certainy not everything. i thought survivor was good and i'd see a movie based on that, definitely.
and ok maybe the King dig was hyperbole. i have read a few of his books despite my low opinion of him (its like watching a B movie in novel format) i can agree with your assessment. and yes the stand had a horrible ending, but most everything up until then was alright (i especially liked The Kid's scenes with Trashcan Man)
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Re: films n shit
Two cartoon/graphic novel based movies I saw only recently blew me away:
The Dark Knight - missed is when it came out. This is one of those times when a person posthumously gets accolades for a role truly truly deserves it.
The Joker is so freaking dead on, just amazing. Makes me realize yet again how much I hated Jack Nicholsons overacting train wreck of a Joker. I'm sure people will disagree, but I thought it was less than mediocre. Heath nailed the character, makes me wish he hadn't died so he could do the sequel. Also the soundtrack is freaking awesome, Hans Zimmer really did a great job. Not always into his stuff, but that almost shepherd tone cello note whenever the Joker appears is ultra perfect!

Kick Ass: I've heard the comic is better etc. but I haven't read it. The movie was much much better than I thought it would be and Hit Girl is a great character, if chloe moretz continues as a teenager to steal every scene she's in we're looking at the next Reese Witherspoon at the very least.

Purple seems to be the theme here?
The Dark Knight - missed is when it came out. This is one of those times when a person posthumously gets accolades for a role truly truly deserves it.
The Joker is so freaking dead on, just amazing. Makes me realize yet again how much I hated Jack Nicholsons overacting train wreck of a Joker. I'm sure people will disagree, but I thought it was less than mediocre. Heath nailed the character, makes me wish he hadn't died so he could do the sequel. Also the soundtrack is freaking awesome, Hans Zimmer really did a great job. Not always into his stuff, but that almost shepherd tone cello note whenever the Joker appears is ultra perfect!

Kick Ass: I've heard the comic is better etc. but I haven't read it. The movie was much much better than I thought it would be and Hit Girl is a great character, if chloe moretz continues as a teenager to steal every scene she's in we're looking at the next Reese Witherspoon at the very least.

Purple seems to be the theme here?
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Re: films n shit
Yes but with me I enjoy cliche ridden, sentimental pop crap in all forms of art as much as I enjoy more serious endeavors - if it's done well.
. MW you tend to be a bit of a snob when it comes to music and film.
The ending of The Stand was disappointing, but the uncut ending was much better; more satisfying; especially if you've read the Dark Tower books. How King wove the events and characters of The Stand (and Salem's Lot!) into the later Tower series was brilliant.


The ending of The Stand was disappointing, but the uncut ending was much better; more satisfying; especially if you've read the Dark Tower books. How King wove the events and characters of The Stand (and Salem's Lot!) into the later Tower series was brilliant.
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Re: OT: Good Film
oblique strategies wrote:
And let's not even get started on the travesties that claim to be based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft!
Had to come back to this. Absolutely right. I'm a huge Lovecraft nut and this is something that a friend and I have discussed at length - why hasn't anyone done a proper adaptation. Lovecraft's material is so amazingly rich and horrifying; it's ripe for the picking in terms of film. Guillermo del Toro has been saying for years that he's going to make At The Mountains Of Madness, but it's gone nowhere. If anyone could pull it off, he could.

One Lovecraft adaption I have always liked was The Dunwich Horror with Dean Stockwell. lol. Over the top nonsense but oh so much fun. And while Reanimator bore little resemblance to the Lovecraft story, it's still a great film. Jeffrey Combs FTW!

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Re: films n shit
I can't tell if this is a compliment or an insult.Machinesworking wrote:if chloe moretz continues as a teenager to steal every scene she's in we're looking at the next Reese Witherspoon at the very least.

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Re: films n shit
I like Reese Witherspoon, think she's great. She does a lot of movies where she plays an annoying character, but that's what the role calls for.dhilsabeck wrote:I can't tell if this is a compliment or an insult.Machinesworking wrote:if chloe moretz continues as a teenager to steal every scene she's in we're looking at the next Reese Witherspoon at the very least.
She's always fun to watch though, she seems to love doing what she does, and I'm all about that in an actress. See her in movies where her character isn't over the top and she's dead on as well.
I guess the over the top actress that annoys me would be Drew Barrymore. Think there's a limit to enthusiasm and she crossed it long ago.
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Re: films n shit
OK I just posted two big hollywood blockbuster movies about cartoon characters. In fact the only movies I bothered to link photos of?LoopStationZebra wrote:Yes but with me I enjoy cliche ridden, sentimental pop crap in all forms of art as much as I enjoy more serious endeavors - if it's done well.. MW you tend to be a bit of a snob when it comes to music and film.
![]()
Yeah, super movie snob here.

In this thread I'm mainly going on about movies I really really loved, not ones I thought were fun but I forgot most of what they were about after a years time has passed.
That list is far too long. It's like naming AC/DC songs I like, or Van Halen songs that sound good on a summer drive around town.
I agree about Re-animator, fun movie! Maybe some day someone does Lovecraft right, but if they do, that movie will be blood curdling!

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Re: OT: Good Film
Due to the success of Re-Animator in 1985, the approach most films have taken, with an emphasis on gore & black comedy, is the antithesis of Lovecraft's writing.LoopStationZebra wrote:oblique strategies wrote:
And let's not even get started on the travesties that claim to be based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft!
Had to come back to this. Absolutely right. I'm a huge Lovecraft nut and this is something that a friend and I have discussed at length - why hasn't anyone done a proper adaptation. Lovecraft's material is so amazingly rich and horrifying; it's ripe for the picking in terms of film. Guillermo del Toro has been saying for years that he's going to make At The Mountains Of Madness, but it's gone nowhere. If anyone could pull it off, he could.![]()
One Lovecraft adaption I have always liked was The Dunwich Horror with Dean Stockwell. lol. Over the top nonsense but oh so much fun. And while Reanimator bore little resemblance to the Lovecraft story, it's still a great film. Jeffrey Combs FTW!
I don't ascribe to the notion that Lovecraft is unfilmable ('The Unfilmable' -sounds like a title of one of his stories!), just that it would take artists who are very empathetic to Lovecraft to attempt to capture on film what he generates in the mind. They would also have to undertake the risky venture of making a serious, dark, & frightening film as opposed to the action fluff that is usually given the green light.
I'm sure if we racked our brains we could come up with numerous films that capture some essence of Lovecraft. These would not necessarily be genre films.
A few films that did get close to Lovecraft:
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). Strip away the action & heroics & you've got a strong dose of small scale cosmic horror.
John Carpenter's In The Mouth Of Madness (1995). An affectionate homage to H.P.L by way of Stephen King, & one of the most entertaining of his later films.
Possession (1981) by Andrzej Zulawski. Creepy...
Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate (1995) has Lovecraftian elements, & is a particular favorite.
Of those films that were clearly made from a specific story by H.P.L. I've avoided most of them, but I rather like Die Monster Die (1965) with Boris Karloff. It's a fun take on The Coulor Out Of Space. Also like Stuart Gordon's From Beyond (1986), especially as comedy.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die."
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Re: films n shit
Machinesworking wrote:Barrymore.
lol, I used to think the same thing. But I've seen her in a couple of dramatic roles and my opinion changed. Grey Gardens (HBO movie) is her most recent dramatic turn, and - holy shit - what a performance. She utterly nailed Little Edie.

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Re: films n shit
Machinesworking wrote: The Dark Knight
I'm probably the only guy on the planet at this point that didn't think The Dark Knight was all that spectacular, and my reason is bizarre: Batman in that movie was a dull, one dimensional, boring motherfucker that should have been killed off in the first 5min. Zzzzz. BAM! The entire movie could have been about The Joker. Fuck Batman, the movie should have been called THE JOKER. lol. That aspect of the story/acting was pure genius.
In The Dark Knight, the Joker is this fascinating character who's madness is riveting. There's not a lot of sides to him. No real depth. But with madness like that, who needs depth?

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Re: OT: Good Film
Yes, excellent call on Die Monster Die. Totally forgot about that, and it's a great film. Love Karloff.oblique strategies wrote: A few films that did get close to Lovecraft:
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). Strip away the action & heroics & you've got a strong dose of small scale cosmic horror.
John Carpenter's In The Mouth Of Madness (1995). An affectionate homage to H.P.L by way of Stephen King, & one of the most entertaining of his later films.
Possession (1981) by Andrzej Zulawski. Creepy...
Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate (1995) has Lovecraftian elements, & is a particular favorite.
Of those films that were clearly made from a specific story by H.P.L. I've avoided most of them, but I rather like Die Monster Die (1965) with Boris Karloff. It's a fun take on The Coulor Out Of Space. Also like Stuart Gordon's From Beyond (1986), especially as comedy.
"That is not dead which can eternal lie. And with strange aeons even death may die."
The Ninth Gate. Oof. You lost me there. It's another film that just makes me angry, lol. There's so many excellent ideas and moments and shots, but as a whole I've always thought it to be a train wreck.
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Re: films n shit
Speaking of film adaptations of books.....and speaking of Nolan and Christian Bale.....
The Prestige.
I read this book several years ago, and it's easily in my top 15 novels. Remarkable, totally original. The film is pretty amazing on it's own. Different enough in many *respectful* ways to stand on it's own quite nicely. I was ready to hate the film, but was pleasantly surprised.
Carpenter's The Thing is like the original Alien; such a seminal piece of modern SciFi, and one of my favorites. Doesn't matter how often I've seen the film, it feels like the first every time. Such amazing levels of atmosphere that Carpenter was able to create. Not too long ago I read the original story 'Who Goes There' by John Campbell.
Let's add Carpenter's film to the list of films that are superior to their source material.
The book is written in a rather sloppy style that's impossible to define, but one of the problems is the confusing way that Campbell handles dialog. What a mess. However, I was amazed at how closely Carpenter followed the source material. Who Goes There is excellent in the ideas and concepts and plot, but just kind of a shitty read. There's one or two notions that are presented in the book that Carpenter didn't address, and they are fucking killer.
Missing, however, is that critical element that Carpenter added: The notion of Antartica as a character in it's own right. The isolation and dread and claustrophobia and freezing death awaiting just outside the door. Awesome.

The Prestige.
I read this book several years ago, and it's easily in my top 15 novels. Remarkable, totally original. The film is pretty amazing on it's own. Different enough in many *respectful* ways to stand on it's own quite nicely. I was ready to hate the film, but was pleasantly surprised.
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). Strip away the action & heroics & you've got a strong dose of small scale cosmic horror.
Carpenter's The Thing is like the original Alien; such a seminal piece of modern SciFi, and one of my favorites. Doesn't matter how often I've seen the film, it feels like the first every time. Such amazing levels of atmosphere that Carpenter was able to create. Not too long ago I read the original story 'Who Goes There' by John Campbell.
Let's add Carpenter's film to the list of films that are superior to their source material.

The book is written in a rather sloppy style that's impossible to define, but one of the problems is the confusing way that Campbell handles dialog. What a mess. However, I was amazed at how closely Carpenter followed the source material. Who Goes There is excellent in the ideas and concepts and plot, but just kind of a shitty read. There's one or two notions that are presented in the book that Carpenter didn't address, and they are fucking killer.

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Re: films n shit
LoopStationZebra wrote:Machinesworking wrote: The Dark Knight
I'm probably the only guy on the planet at this point that didn't think The Dark Knight was all that spectacular, and my reason is bizarre: Batman in that movie was a dull, one dimensional, boring motherfucker that should have been killed off in the first 5min. Zzzzz. BAM! The entire movie could have been about The Joker. Fuck Batman, the movie should have been called THE JOKER. lol. That aspect of the story/acting was pure genius.
In The Dark Knight, the Joker is this fascinating character who's madness is riveting. There's not a lot of sides to him. No real depth. But with madness like that, who needs depth?On the other hand, in the comics Batman is pretty much the same way; but with even more depth and multidimension. The first movie showed this a little bit, but then it seemed all but abandoned in this last film.
I agree about Batman, but in this movie one of the things that gives it it's sense of urgency is that Batman is chasing after the Joker, and being led completely. Batmans character is basically non existent because he can't think of anything but trying to catch the Joker, and he basically loses. The Joker doesn't get caught as much as run out of luck. There are plenty of times before where he took a chance on being killed or caught.
Disagree on depth in the Joker.
He's brutally clever- always ahead of everyone else, not just by a little bit but by miles.
Fully suicidal- in at least three scenes he's willing to die to prove his points.
He's psychopathic, but more than willing to let people in on his ideas about why he is the way he is. He's constantly explaining his actions away, and reinventing his own trauma, "You want to know how I got these scars?"
He's not deep in the sense that it's quite obvious that he doesn't really care about anything other than causing havoc, but that's a real pathology.
Fucking great character, too bad he won't be around in the series to give you the depth you want, they decided to kill the character with Heath, which is smart IMO.