*** Official Film Thread ***

[Gutter Boy]

The Disney original films have largely bombed recently; Wish, Strange World. They know if they remake a classic it has a built in audience. For the record, whilst none of their remakes have bettered the originals, I quite liked the remakes of The Jungle Book, Aladdin, Lion King, Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. They were all watchable and enjoyable tbh. The Jungle Book in particular was a really solid, entertaining movie.

Why would you ever watch them though? Would you watch a rerun of say our Ajax semi, as recreated by our current U19s team?

 

[SteveAWOL]

I think you're absolutely right.

In the interests of fairness to criticism, I'll explain (in general terms in case anyone is going to see it).

1) Far too long. Unjustified in length.
2) Poorly written. Very muddled storylines.
3) Ham-fisted homages. Backfire.
4) Over prevalance of CGI. The lack of actual actors vs CGI constructs leaves this lacking true heart.
5) Absolutely obvious 'franchise milking'.

I accept that generationally-speaking, I will always have issues with heavy CGI films, but equally, I'm not a luddite and enjoy many different types of film/approach. But there has to be some interplay between human dynamics and CGI. The Paddington series is a fine example. George Miller has done a great job blending the two with these Mad Max's (the new forthcoming one looks great).

Interested to hear people's thoughts on this. FWIW I am generally not a big budget blockbuster lover...

I watched KotPotA on Friday and thought it was okay but concur with your criticisms and am so glad that my local Odeon upgraded their seating to recliners so at least I was comfortable!

Seems that almost every blockbuster is >2.5 hours in recent years which I don’t mind when the story is engrossing, like Dune or Oppenheimer, but this franchise is becoming almost as much of a CGI fest as that Godzilla v Kong malarkey.

Wish that they’d bring back the intermissions so I could stretch my legs, especially considering cinemas make most of their profits from selling concessions anyway.

 

[Gutter Boy]

I watched KotPotA on Friday and thought it was okay but concur with your criticisms and am so glad that my local Odeon upgraded their seating to recliners so at least I was comfortable!

Seems that almost every blockbuster is >2.5 hours in recent years which I don’t mind when the story is engrossing, like Dune or Oppenheimer, but this franchise is becoming almost as much of a CGI fest as that Godzilla v Kong malarkey.

Wish that they’d bring back the intermissions so I could stretch my legs, especially considering cinemas make most of their profits from selling concessions anyway.

It's logistics at multiplexes apparently. Basically they reckon they lose track of people and they sneak off to different screens/2nd films etc. It can only really be done at more traditional cinemas with 1 or 2 screens.

My local independent does interval for every screening. They just pause the film at a natural break, and wheel out the ice cream cart and get the bar shutters pulled up. It's very civilised.

 

[SteveAWOL]

It's logistics at multiplexes apparently. Basically they reckon they lose track of people and they sneak off to different screens/2nd films etc. It can only really be done at more traditional cinemas with 1 or 2 screens.

My local independent does interval for every screening. They just pause the film at a natural break, and wheel out the ice cream cart and get the bar shutters pulled up. It's very civilised.

The last time I can recall an intermission up Odeon was when I watched Empire of the Sun but that was back when cinemas still had ushers to show us to our seats who then came back with those trays full of snacks.

My local indie did a 70mm screening of 2001 A Space Odyssey a few years ago which had the entr'acte music but they typically show movies straight through.

 

[thfcsteff]

The last time I can recall an intermission up Odeon was when I watched Empire of the Sun but that was back when cinemas still had ushers to show us to our seats who then came back with those trays full of snacks.

My local indie did a 70mm screening of 2001 A Space Odyssey a few years ago which had the entr'acte music but they typically show movies straight through.

I had the huge privilege of seeing it with the SF Symphony providing the score live; the choral harmony part was absolutely awe-inspiring. An extraordinary experience...