Film Review & Discussion

[GhiraWar]

I can't speak for the movie since I have't watched it yet.

As a European, though, I really don't understand the mindset behind violence being less bad than nudity. Is it really so damaging to expose a child to a naked person in the context of watching a movie? I mean they're going to be seeing plenty of it when their adults anyway. Probably. I know that you can say the same thing about violence, but the one big important difference is that nudity (on its own) doesn't harm other people, whereas violence is pretty much the definition of harming other people. Sorry to be using this film as an example of everything time and time again, but I've actually read accounts of people saying that when they were children their parents made them watch Schindler's List. Their parents skipped over the short sexual scene in the movie, but made their children watch scenes where Jews were shot at concentration camps, which affected them when they were kids in a pretty negative way. Honestly I would find those scenes more traumatizing as a child than seeing some breasts and Liam Neeson's butt. Oh no, boobs, oh the horror.

OH MY GOD! RUN! FEMALE BREASTS THAT FEED BABIES! OH NO! BUTTS! WE ALL HAVE ONE AND WE HAVE ALL SEEN OUR OWN! HORRIBLE RUN RUN RUN RUN!

-sorry

[polerberr]

@GhiraWar Hahaha, don't be sorry, it's exactly how I feel.

Just to revitalize this thread, what is everyone's thoughts on comic book movies? I won tickets to my country's premier showing of Dawn of Justice, despite the cool experience, I thought the film was incredibly bland. I think DC movies are about to go down the drain, Christopher Nolan's Batman movies were the last bit of excellence for DC.

Marvel is really going strong though. Deadpool made so much more money than any comic book movie ever has and probably ever will, and everyone seems to be pretty hyped for Civil War. I think Marvel markets it all a lot better. DC movies don't even put tags after the credits, which is one of the reasons why people keep staying excited for Marvel movies. We get a taste of the next movie after seeing the latest one.

Anyway, to expand on why I didn't like Dawn of Justice, the plot was just so muddled in itself along with being extremely predictable. I don't feel like I watched anything new after having seen it. The CGI was pretty terrible for today's standards, too. It really made me question where we draw the line between a movie with a lot of CGI and an animated film. I'd almost call Dawn of Justice an animation to be honest. On top of all of that, it was visually bland too. Nolan's Batman''s color pallet was pretty much just black, but it wasn't annoying to look at. For some reason I thought Dawn of Justice was hard to watch because of how bland the visuals were. Idk. I won't spoil any of the plot, though, if you can call it a plot. I'm sorry if you liked it or are looking forward to it.

[WHEN'DHEGO?!?!]

So, I saw Zootopia yesterday. Good movie.
I do have one big problem and some smaller problems, but I found it to be very good. What do you guys think?

[polerberr]

I also managed to finally watch Zootopia. I really enjoyed it, but yeah I also have a few problems. I think as a general rule, we should be allowed to talk about the film, but not spoil the general plot and major plot points considering that it is still playing in cinemas. Minor plot things can be discussed, but with a spoiler warning beforehand. So that said, spoiler warning:

My main problem with the film is that there were several occasions when the dialogue was, in my opinion, rather hammy and contrived. There are people that might say, "It's a kid's movie with a complex theme, it has to be spoon fed." Yet I would entirely disagree. Toddlers have to be spoon fed. Hammy dialogue is what you would expect from shows like Peppa Pig and Bob the Builder. Kids (not toddlers) pick up on a lot more than people might think. A really good example of this is in Pixar's Up. In the beginning, in that montage of Carl and Ellie's life, it is implied that Ellie has a miscarriage; It is never explicitly stated by any of the characters. It was, in my opinion, one of the best story-telling moments of animated film, because it'd be hard to find a kid that didn't understand (or at least have some idea of) what happened, even though none of the characters explicitly stated "Ellie is sad because she had a miscarriage". I would have expected Disney to treat it's audience for Zootopia in the same way, since Disney's target audience are families in general, not specifically toddlers.

Some of the dialogue that I'm thinking about can be seen in the beginning, where the redneck fox bullies Judy when they were kids, and also Nick Wilde's flashback to when he was being muzzled by his scout "peers". I can't remember the wording verbatim so don't take my quoting for granted at all (I'm not even going to try to get it right), but I do very clearly remember that the dialogue was being painfully obvious as to why the character was being bullied. It was already clear what was going on, but then they had to add that captain obvious line of "We're doing this because you're a predator/prey." [Insert cliche whiny bully tone]

That said, it didn't ruin the overall experience too much. I loved all of the references to other films and shows. I'd love to know if anybody caught any that I didn't? The ones I got were The Godfather, Breaking Bad, those Disney DVDs the weasel was selling, and a kind of sneaky Frozen reference, or at least I thought it was sneaky. My sister didn't get it so I assumed it was sneaky.

[WHEN'DHEGO?!?!]

I have other problems, (actually I found both bullying scenes to be pretty effective) but I won't go into them now to avoid spoilers
However I will mention one thing, and that is because Id wished I'd been warned about it before going in the theater, so I want to warn you now
(I'll put it in small text)
There is a rather long, uncomfortable scene where Judy and Nick go into a nudist place, where they make constant jokes about the animals being naked
I know you'll all be at my throat about how much it's no big deal, but for me personally, it made me very uncomfortable. So I'n just warning people like me.

I'll say something positive too I guess- Judy is one of my favorite Disney protagonists (although sadly that's not saying a lot, sinfs its Disney. But I really like her)

[polerberr]

Good idea to put spoilers in small text if you're afraid of people instantly reading it without warning. Possible spoilers below, I'd like to address the scene that made you feel uncomfortable.

First, there's really nothing wrong with feeling uncomfortable about it. Natural things can make people uncomfortable, even if they aren't necessarily inappropriate. I don't think the scene in question was inappropriate, but I do think that is was unnecessary. The only importance of that scene was for the characters to get another lead for their investigation. The only funny thing in that scene was the bit about how the elephant is supposed to have a great memory, but it's actually the yak that remembers the information they need. Both of those could have taken place without the specific location of a "naturalist" area. I guess the writers were trying to get some kind of a laugh out of it, and I'm sure there are people that laughed, but honestly, it just confused me. I have questions. So, Nick Wilde wears a shirt without pants, and that's ok. And when Nick and Judy are talking to the Yak while he's still behind the counter, Judy doesn't find anything wrong about the fact that he's not wearing a shirt. So, wearing a shirt but no pants is ok. Wearing pants but no shirt is ok... So how come not wearing either is not ok? It's ok to see their lower area, it's ok to see their upper area, but god forbid they see both at the same time?! What?! WHERE DO THEY PEE FROM?! FOR REAL. THEY HAVE TOILETS SO WE KNOW THEY PEE, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE ANY GENITALS. WHAT IS THIS.

Sorry.

[WHEN'DHEGO?!?!]

The elephant's memory thing could also be tied into the stereotyping message.

Judy doesn't find anything wrong about the fact that he's not wearing a shirt. So, wearing a shirt but no pants is ok. Wearing pants but no shirt is ok... So how come not wearing either is not ok? It's ok to see their lower area, it's ok to see their upper area, but they see both at the same time?!

It's normal for boys to be shirtless in real life too, though.
I don't remember seeing anyone with no pants and a shirt on...

[polerberr]

The elephant's memory thing could also be tied into the stereotyping message.

Judy doesn't find anything wrong about the fact that he's not wearing a shirt. So, wearing a shirt but no pants is ok. Wearing pants but no shirt is ok... So how come not wearing either is not ok? It's ok to see their lower area, it's ok to see their upper area, but they see both at the same time?!

It's normal for boys to be shirtless in real life too, though.
I don't remember seeing anyone with no pants and a shirt on...

Oh, wait yeah you'r right. For some reason I remembered Nick not wearing pants. That would make more sense then for the animals to feel weird about being nude.

[MalcolmOmnishambles]

Favorite movie, and why: This is hard, It seems that whatever movie you see last is your "favorite" I could watch Clue and the Princess Bride over and over (and quote both of them word for word) but The Hunt (Jagten) was such a masterful study of human emotion, it is probable at the top of my list right now.

Least favorite movie, and why: Percy Jackson: The LIghtning Thief-I was a huge fan of the Percy Jackson books, and the first adaption killed me, it jumped all over the place and had stuff from the later books? I just remember being really upset when I left the theater.

Best movies ever seen: Here are a few (in no particular order) Clue, The Princess Bride, Braveheart, A Single Man, The Blind Side, Peter's Friends, Hot Fuzz, The Hunt, Forest Gump, In Bruges, Victim (1961), Saving Mr Banks, The Man from U.N.C.L.E (2015),The Full Monty, District 9, Extracted, Heaven Can Wait (1978), Black Mirror-White Christmas, Pride and Prejudice(the miniseries) and Magic in the Moonlight.

Worst movies ever seen: I don't know, I usually check a movie out before I watch it, and I go for stuff with people in it I know, sometimes that can lead to some weird stuff. I've watched almost all of Peter Capaldi's filmography, so the Lair of the White Worm was, interesting. I wouldn't call any movies I’ve seen Horrible, just different. Some very distinctive oldies (e.g. Donkey Skin, don’t ask)

Favorite Director: I love the Coen Brothers & Kenneth Branagh

Favorite Actor(s): Dirk Bogarde, Peter Capaldi, Colin Firth, Mads Mikkelsen, Gregory Peck, Paul Newman, Hugh Laurie, Toby Stephens, & Tom Hiddleston

Favorite Actress: Sandra Bullock (sorry, for a girl, I’m horribly un-knowledgeable in Actresses)

Any Film Critics you follow?: Not really, the people of IMDB usually give a me what I’m looking for.



(Sorry if this is a lot)

[polerberr]

Welcome MalcolmOmnishambles! Glad to see another Hannibal fan.

I understand the feeling of the last good movie you watched being your "favorite". That aptly describes me a few years ago, when I never really had a favorite movie because I just kept seeing new and "better" ones. Since that time I somehow managed to settle, what I call my favorite movies are movies that I've enjoyed for a long time, those that I could watch on repeat for the rest of my life and not get bored. Those are really special to me. c:

I haven't yet managed to watch The Princess Bride (yet), but I have seen Clue. That movie is just fantastic, especially Tim Curry's performance. That bit near the end, when he's running around the house explaining what's happened to everyone, I was in stitches the whole time. He's so good. Ok all of the actors in Clue were good, but Tim Curry is just special in that film. He's so underrated. Even his performances in Home Alone 2 and Muppet Treasure Island are fantastic. (Dude can sing, too).

The Hunt is also a pretty powerful movie. The performances in that were top notch, I'm honestly surprised it didn't win Best Foreign Language Film. (Should the Academy Awards really differentiate between English language and foreign language films, though? I don't think so.)

So, I have a question, what did you like about District 9? I thought it was interesting, but it just didn't really strike any other chords with me... Idk, maybe I should try to watch it again, but it just felt kind of empty to me... I have no other way to describe it.