Boring Blockbusters

by compound complex 20 Replies latest jw friends

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  compound complex

  Greetings, Movie Buffs:

  I grew up with scary movies of the 1950s -- "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms," "Forbidden Planet," "The Thing" (Howard Hawkes). In "The Thing," the audience gasped when the men surrounding the ice-encased object proved to be circular: a flying saucer! Expectant movie goers screamed when the Thing bolted from behind the opening door.

  I recently viewed "Man of Steel" and "Pacific Rim." Elements of the two tales I enjoyed; however, the super special effects, particularly employed in fight scenes, just kept going and going and . . .

  Less is more.

  I'm glad I have the oldies but goodies on video tape.

  Your thoughts?

  CoCo Cineaste
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  sir82

  I was really disappointed by "Man of Steel". The first half was entertaining. The second half was (almost literally) 60 consecutive minutes of:

  Superman throws villain through a building.

  Villain shakes himself off, flies over and throws Superman through a building.

  Superman shakes himself off, flies over and throws villain through a building.

  And on. And on. And on.
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  compound complex

  Likewise, sir!

  CC
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  Crazyguy

  I really like man of steel. I was the first major movie depicting superman as being super, not a forboating unshure of himself, not so superman
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  compound complex

  Thanks, Crazyguy, for your post. Much appreciated.

  CC
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  LisaRose

  Special effects can be great, but it doesn't replace good storytelling and acting. Back in the day, they couldn't get all these effects, or at least not this easily, so they became very clever in the script. I get easily bored when the special effects drag on and on. I made the mistake of seeing The 300 with husband, what a mistake. How many ways can you show a head getting lopped off? I told my husband he owed me two chick flicks for that one. I see by the previews the makers of that turkey have another one coming out. No thanks.
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  compound complex

  Yes, Lisa Rose -- how many ways?

  Story and character development are key. SFX can enhance the production, but never replace the aforementioned.

  THANKS! BTW, you deserve those chick flicks!

  CC
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  GLTirebiter

  "Less is more."

  A concept Alfred Hitchcock understood so well. The suspense is in what you see in your imagination, not with your eyes.
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  Spectre

  I liked Superman a lot but I will admit the last half was a bit much (also, I hate Kevin Costner).

  Pacific Rim was a lot of fun to watch but one shouldn't watch that one for deep character development.

  300 I loved but I'm a big Frank Miller fan and you should know what you're getting into before watching that one. Same for Sin City. I heard people complaing about the violence afterwards but with a name like Sin City.....yeah.

  A fun one I just watched was Kick-Ass 2. I was rolling with laughter during the whole thing.

  I'm almost liking TV shows more now for depth of character. When Anthony Hopkins emails Bryan Cranston to tell him his Walter White was the best acting he's ever seen, made me go on a Breaking Bad marathon. Some other TV shows just seem more rewarding than a 2 hour movie.
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  smiddy

  The fight scenes in the latest Iron Man , Superman , Star Trek all had one thing in common , they all went on & on & on & on.I got bored stiff.

  Sometimes you just cant beat the originals even if the special effects are not up to todays standards, such as : War Of The Worlds (Gene Barry )

  The Thing ( James Arness as the thing ) The Day The Earth Stood Still ( M.Rennie , Patricia Neal ) The Day Of The Triffids , based on John Windhams novel .

  smiddy