Author Topic: The Film Poll Strikes Back: Week 10  (Read 7740 times)

Ocicat

  • Castle Watchcat
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3722
  • Anything for a Weird Life
on: December 12, 2007, 09:09:53 PM
Last week Holy Grail won again, with twice the votes of Terminator 2.

This weeks films need no introduction.  But which one is your favorite?



Darwinist

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 701
Reply #1 on: December 12, 2007, 09:16:04 PM
Some good ones there, but I had to go  with The Matrix.  When I saw it in the theater I thought it was like nothing I had seen before and it blew me away. 

I would probably have Pirates on my "worst of" list.  Hated it. 

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.    -  Carl Sagan


DKT

  • Friendly Neighborhood
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 4980
  • PodCastle is my Co-Pilot
    • Psalms & Hymns & Spiritual Noir
Reply #2 on: December 12, 2007, 10:58:24 PM
Matrix for me, too, although I love all those movies. 


DDog

  • Matross
  • ****
  • Posts: 187
    • Twitter
Reply #3 on: December 12, 2007, 11:35:47 PM
This week, because my film-watching obviously needs some boosting over the winter break, it's between The Matrix and Pirates. Which is a difficult choice because of Keanu Reeves vs. Johnny Depp--no contest. However, Carrie-Ann Moss owns Kiera Knightly any day. I enjoyed both films... but I had to go with the Matrix.

Ask a Tranny Podcast
"Watching someone bootstrap themselves into sentience is the most science fiction thing you can do." -wintermute


Ocicat

  • Castle Watchcat
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 3722
  • Anything for a Weird Life
Reply #4 on: December 13, 2007, 10:43:39 PM
I liked the Matrix, but feel it's overhyped.  The sucky sequels don't help that impression (well, honestly I've never seen the third film). 

I voted Eternal Sunshine, which I thought was a fantastic SF movie.  The kind of science fiction that doesn't need spaceships or fight scenes.  Just as much "what is reality" mindfuck as the Matrix... well, maybe not quite as much, but on a much more personal level.  And good characters and story to make it resonate.



sirana

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 409
Reply #5 on: December 14, 2007, 08:09:05 AM
I went with Matrix, too.
I really liked Eternal sunshine when I saw it the first time. Seen it again a couple of weeks ago and I like it less the second viewing. The plot feels contrived if you know how it is going to play out and I really don't like Jim Carrey.



Russell Nash

  • Guest
Reply #6 on: December 14, 2007, 08:40:06 AM
I saw Jim Carrey as the big drawback to Sunshine, but that was canceled out by Kate Winslet with a little Mark Ruffalo and Kirsten Dunst thrown in for good measure.  The Matrix ends up being a bit of a one trick pony with it's bullet time special effects.  I thought the plot was better in Sunshine and there were more small details to see too.



Alasdair5000

  • Editor
  • *****
  • Posts: 1022
    • My blog
Reply #7 on: December 14, 2007, 11:17:28 AM
What an interesting group.  Let's see if I can torpedo my credibility still further!:)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail     

   Blasphemous as this may well be, it's very funny but I only ever needed to see it once.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl    
   For me, easily the best of the trilogy and Jack's initial appearance is, hands down, one of the highlights of 21st Century cinema to date.  But, it suffers a little from Matrix-itis (Great opening movie, law of diminishing returns from there on in).

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
   Just gets smarter every time I watch it.  There's something really honest about the relationships in the movie, something very, very convincing about convincing about the mundanity of how people interact and the way that we cherish the tiniest things and nurse the tiniest grudges.

God I sound like a pretentious ass today.  Moving on.

   It's a lovely movie that manages to be both romantic and pragmatic.  The fact that I'm very fond of Kate Winslet with blue hair is simply an added bonus.  This gets my vote.

The Matrix
   Loved it, bought it, watched it many times.  Watched the sequels and now...I can't make it past twenty minutes in.  All I can see is the dance sequence in Reloaded, or Hulk Agent in the car chase, or the point where we spend twenty plus minutes in Revolutions in the company of a character who is A)Irrelevant and B)Someone you've never seen before unless you've watched The Animatrix and even then, is put in place to do nothing but effectively be a placeholder.

Bah.

   Of course, that being said Speed Racer looks astounding so it's clear I've learnt nothing.

Hellboy
   I have near total Hellboy love, it's one of the first comics I got into back when I ran the store and the combination of pulp adventure and the supernatural never fails to entertain me.  I especially like the joke that he's only actually a great paranormal investigator because he's functionally impossible to kill and isn't really that bothered about finding out WHAT it is he's supposed to hit:)  Really lookin forward to the second one too.



DKT

  • Friendly Neighborhood
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 4980
  • PodCastle is my Co-Pilot
    • Psalms & Hymns & Spiritual Noir
Reply #8 on: December 14, 2007, 06:25:52 PM
The Matrix
   Loved it, bought it, watched it many times.  Watched the sequels and now...I can't make it past twenty minutes in.  All I can see is the dance sequence in Reloaded, or Hulk Agent in the car chase, or the point where we spend twenty plus minutes in Revolutions in the company of a character who is A)Irrelevant and B)Someone you've never seen before unless you've watched The Animatrix and even then, is put in place to do nothing but effectively be a placeholder.

Somehow, I'm able to differentiate the Matrix from the sequels it produced.  The first movie I still hold high as one of the coolest SF action films I've seen.  I absolutely hated the Matrix Reloaded almost all the way through until it got to the architect -- before that it was a bunch of boring fight scenes (Neo can kick anyone's ass in the Matrix -- am I supposed to be worried by any of this?), and the Matrix Revolutions seemed a bit better than the second (to me -- I think I'm in the minority, though), but still that's not really saying much.  I've only watched the sequels once each.  The original, though, I could watch over and over again. 


Alasdair5000

  • Editor
  • *****
  • Posts: 1022
    • My blog
Reply #9 on: December 14, 2007, 06:47:30 PM
The Matrix
   Loved it, bought it, watched it many times.  Watched the sequels and now...I can't make it past twenty minutes in.  All I can see is the dance sequence in Reloaded, or Hulk Agent in the car chase, or the point where we spend twenty plus minutes in Revolutions in the company of a character who is A)Irrelevant and B)Someone you've never seen before unless you've watched The Animatrix and even then, is put in place to do nothing but effectively be a placeholder.

Somehow, I'm able to differentiate the Matrix from the sequels it produced.  The first movie I still hold high as one of the coolest SF action films I've seen.  I absolutely hated the Matrix Reloaded almost all the way through until it got to the architect -- before that it was a bunch of boring fight scenes (Neo can kick anyone's ass in the Matrix -- am I supposed to be worried by any of this?), and the Matrix Revolutions seemed a bit better than the second (to me -- I think I'm in the minority, though), but still that's not really saying much.  I've only watched the sequels once each.  The original, though, I could watch over and over again. 

   Oh absolutely there's some amazing stuff in the first one.  The thing that really, really irritates me about the second two is that they set up some fantastic ideas and then utterly fail to explore them in detail.  I love things like the 'pocket realms' of the train station and the night club and the personification of programs, along with the implication that they have as much right to be there as any of the humans is fascinating.

CGI Keanu and two characters who are in there as nothing more than an extended trailer for the game?  Not so much.



DKT

  • Friendly Neighborhood
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 4980
  • PodCastle is my Co-Pilot
    • Psalms & Hymns & Spiritual Noir
Reply #10 on: December 14, 2007, 08:58:40 PM
The Matrix
   Loved it, bought it, watched it many times.  Watched the sequels and now...I can't make it past twenty minutes in.  All I can see is the dance sequence in Reloaded, or Hulk Agent in the car chase, or the point where we spend twenty plus minutes in Revolutions in the company of a character who is A)Irrelevant and B)Someone you've never seen before unless you've watched The Animatrix and even then, is put in place to do nothing but effectively be a placeholder.

Somehow, I'm able to differentiate the Matrix from the sequels it produced.  The first movie I still hold high as one of the coolest SF action films I've seen.  I absolutely hated the Matrix Reloaded almost all the way through until it got to the architect -- before that it was a bunch of boring fight scenes (Neo can kick anyone's ass in the Matrix -- am I supposed to be worried by any of this?), and the Matrix Revolutions seemed a bit better than the second (to me -- I think I'm in the minority, though), but still that's not really saying much.  I've only watched the sequels once each.  The original, though, I could watch over and over again. 

   Oh absolutely there's some amazing stuff in the first one.  The thing that really, really irritates me about the second two is that they set up some fantastic ideas and then utterly fail to explore them in detail.  I love things like the 'pocket realms' of the train station and the night club and the personification of programs, along with the implication that they have as much right to be there as any of the humans is fascinating.

CGI Keanu and two characters who are in there as nothing more than an extended trailer for the game?  Not so much.

Totally agreed.  Hands down, I prefer the Animatrix to either of the Matrix sequels.  I admit, I was waiting for the vampires and werewolves to show up in the second one.  Now that might have made for a more interesting fight... ;)


Alasdair5000

  • Editor
  • *****
  • Posts: 1022
    • My blog
Reply #11 on: December 14, 2007, 09:06:17 PM
'I know Kung Fu...'

'That's nice, my friend Fido here once ATE a Kung Fu master.  Sic 'im Fido!'

I'd love that:)



DKT

  • Friendly Neighborhood
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 4980
  • PodCastle is my Co-Pilot
    • Psalms & Hymns & Spiritual Noir
Reply #12 on: December 14, 2007, 10:08:33 PM
See!  It could have been fun :)


wakela

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 779
    • Mr. Wake
Reply #13 on: December 17, 2007, 11:48:45 PM
I thought the fight scene(s) towards the end of the first Matrix were kind of dull.  You can't kill Neo and you can't kill Smith.  So what are we doing here?

I think the rave in Reloaded is going to severely date the movie.  What if the rebellion on Hoth responded to the imperial AT-ATs by holding a giant break dance party?