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[s0]

I watched Crimson Peak because now that the Kojima collab is happening, I thought I should get up to speed on del Toro's newer films.

It was OK and had nice visuals but it tried to do too many things at once and ended up kinda half assing all of them: It's a horror movie that isn't really scary. It's a ghost story, but the ghosts, while looking cool, have literally 0 plot relevance. It's a romance movie without any real chemistry b/w the primary protagonists. It has some Sherlock Holmes shit going on, but the BIG REVEAL is really cliche, etc. etc. So kinda same problems as Pan's Labyrinth I guess lol.

[gimymblert]

When asked he say it was in no way an horror movie lol
The "gothic style" is throwing people off by assimilation.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/10/16/guillermo-del-toro-on-why-crimson-peak-is-not-a-horror-movie

I think it has the same problem of culture clash, expectation don't translate well into the new framework. Does not mean your observation aren't relevant though, on contrary.

[s0]

i didn't expect it to be a horror movie at all but it clearly has horror elements (that feel tacked on). it's like i said, the ghosts might as well not be there. at one point del toro has mia wasikowska explicitly say that "the ghosts are just a metaphor for the past". which is fine and dandy, but: seeing as the movie already conveys themes like clinging to the past and the inability to move on through its human characters, and the ghosts are almost completely inconsequential to the plot, it just seems gratuitous. why does the film want to be a metaphor for itself? it makes no sense.

it would have worked if the ghosts were used more subtly, maybe as a background element and if the actual nature of them was left unclear. there's just not enough to them to warrant giving them their own scenes.

also i already acknowledged that it's a genre mix in my last post. it just doesn't mix genres in a compelling way and is too unfocused to achieve a synthesis.

[s0]

also jessica chastain is a freaking underrated actress (well as underrated as a hollywood actress is going to get lol). she got a lot of nuance out of what is actually a very cliche character her performance was def the best of the cast.

[gimymblert]

I wasn't talking about the genre mix, but how genre are neat little stiff box that come with expectation and no more incongruity. Ie if you don't follow the genre or mix, then suddenly the presence of things became question when they where already questionable and arbitrary but just accepted overtime through codification of the genre.

I'm saying that this movie expose the code through expectation while doing it's own thing, which make thins pops when it's no less arbitrary than usual. The come under scrutiny because "out of frame".

Usually pointing at arbitrary things is the realm of another genre, parody.

[s0]

I'm saying that this movie expose the code through expectation while doing it's own thing, which make thins pops when it's no less arbitrary than usual. The come under scrutiny because "out of frame".

no i can't agree with this at all. have you actually seen it? the constituent elements aren't exactly incongruous (for one thing theyre all based in 19th century literature), theyre just all mediocre on their own and lack the overarching direction to make them really come together. i don't think it does its own thing at all tbh, just does a bunch of existing things at the same time.

[gimymblert]

I haven't seen the movie, I'm trying to milk an interesting discussion on arbitrary convention, tropes use and genre expectation.

[s0]

pan's labyrinth would probably be a better movie by the same director to talk about then haha.

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

recommending "Southbound" for horror fantasy desert highway tales fans seeking for something a la Lynch

[Netsu]

[Alevice]

tf4 wasnt entertaining. t1 and 2 were a bit. tf4 is just a huuuge slog

[GaiaX2]

Tf1 was a rocky start. 2 feels it was kinda there. 3 was an ok attempt at a story (even if it did use a concept ripped right from the G1 cartoon), and 4.. well, it's a bit of a forgettable experience as a whole.

[Netsu]

I don't know, all of them were totally forgettable for me, but at least I laughed a lot with the last one.

Yesterday I watched Filth and Wisdom and contrary to popular opinion liked it a lot. The story was engaging, the characters interesting and it definitely made me question the way I live my life.

[jonathgb25]

Try Hachiko. It is such a good sad story.   

[Chromanoid]

Best movies ever with best song tracks?

Just watched it, great stuff! Thank you for mentioning it.

[s0]

i saw hail caesar. it was good but not great. but ok the coen bros are kinda past their prime so i wasn't expecting a masterpiece. i felt like the many subplots muddled the movie too much and ended up weighing it down. some funny and poignant scenes tho.

[quan]

Speaking of Coen brothers I watched Fargo for the first time. It has a nice mix of humour and creepiness.
It reminds me of Twin Peaks minus the surreal stuff and instead puts the focus on the murky dark side to small town stuff.

[Tanner]

coen bros are kinda past their prime

woah woah woah, Inside Llewyn Davis is easily one of their best, imo. I have a feeling I'm going to like Hail, Caesar more on my next viewing.

[Superb Joe]

you guys see the puppets little dick in anomalisa?

[s0]

coen bros are kinda past their prime

woah woah woah, Inside Llewyn Davis is easily one of their best, imo. I have a feeling I'm going to like Hail, Caesar more on my next viewing.

i haven't seen that one yet, oops. i kinda missed the theatrical release and then forgot about it.

also yes hail caesar seemed like a movie that potentially benefits from multiple viewings. WE'LL SEE.