The "I Just Watched..." Thread

**FuryFox** · 09 Aug 2017, 01:27 PM

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

I really wanted to like this one, an "original" big budget space opera with loads of creativity.

What a clusterfuck. It's structured very similarly to the Fifth Element, and has some really imaginative and whacky stuff that's fun in a vacuum, but crumbles narratively. The first 5 minutes are inspired, but as soon as you're introduced to the main duo, the movie's pretty much sunk. They're immediately unlikeable, miscast (especially Dane Dehaan, for which I'm doubly aggrieved him tarnishing the name), and frequently flip on whose character traits are supposed to belong to who...often at critical plot junctures. Their romantic dialogue is all mystifying unearned and gag-worthy; naturally, there's no chemistry whatsoever.

The setting is cool, a lot of the alien designs and tech are a lot of fun, but the imagination seems extremely limited when it comes to integrating those elements into the story. For instance, characters repeatedly solve major problems by breaking away a metal panel and fiddling with sparking, plastic covered copper wires (in a world where transdimensional accessories are commonplace). Oh, there's a bunch of slapstick physical comedy in here too, which mostly just made me sympathetically embarrassed, and further confused what audience this was ever meant for.

**Diff-chan** · 09 Aug 2017, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by Error

Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I disagree with your opinion of the man's movies. He can frame a scene, IMax lenses can apparently make anything look unique and cool, I guess, but after that he's got a couple of good movies and then a whole whack of over rated ones. Part of the problem is because he's got his head stuck up his own asshole about making art. He's made 3 straight movies where the audio has been fucked in the theaters and he doesn't give a shit because it sounds good in his theaters and fuck the rest of the world. Or something.

I liked Inception. I liked The Prestige. I dislike the story of Begins but I think the movie is well made. Never saw Mememto. The rest of his movies are riding on past glory.

You don't need to apologize it's just an opinion.

**sedition** · 09 Aug 2017, 03:05 PM

I saw Dunkirk recently at an IMAX. I liked it.

**Drewbacca** · 10 Aug 2017, 08:39 AM

I'll have to see this movie. Apparently a 90+ y/o Canadian vet who was at Dunkirk said it captured the overall horrors of that very very well. So maybe the movie did something right.

I don't like or hate Nolan. I've mostly enjoyed his post-Batman flicks. I thought Memento leaned too hard in to its gimmick to be good. But then I typically dislike story-out-of-chronology stories. It always seems like the hacks way of avoiding earned tension and character development.

**Error** · 10 Aug 2017, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by Drewbacca

But then I typically dislike story-out-of-chronology stories. It always seems like the hacks way of avoiding earned tension and character development.

So uh....

**Mzo** · 10 Aug 2017, 11:51 AM

Just watched Beyond the Gates. I get what they were going for but I think they missed the mark. It's basically horror Jumanji but the things that happen are pretty non-sensical and kind of boring in the end.