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bearfan said:
I enjoyed it as well, it had a nice pacing to it, good characters, well done sets, and some really fine acting. It had the feel of a movie made in the a few decades ago (I mean that in a good way)
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Agreed. Really enjoyable film. I loved the Tom Hanks character most thoroughly. He rose above the hatred of The Other he was defending and did it because that's what Americans are supposed to do.

There might be an allegory in there for today, but I can't think of it.
 
Recently I saw everything by Rian Johnson. And I mean it - starting from some kind of college short... He's the guy doing Star Wars: Episode VIII (writing and directing), so I wanted to get familiar with his style and try to make out what we can expect. Definitely a talented director. He always writes and directs his films, so he's the kind of visionary filmmaker - I like it. His stories are original, quite complex, well-thought, with solid dialogues and well-paced narration. Moreover, I like how he uses lots of artistic shots, transitions etc. The cinematography in general is superb. He's a very conscious director, you can tell he knows what he's doing.

His three full features:

Brick (2005) - Interesting but kind of weird. It's like a film noir but in daylight and set in high school community. Nicely directed and well-written, but the story in general didn't make a huge impression on me. Well... I should mention I'm not sure I understood everything properly, I should rewatch it, lol. Anyway, I was focusing on directing and was very impressed, especially since it's a debut.

The Brothers Bloom (2008) - It's a heist/comedy/adventure thing. Again quite weird - heavily stylised. It takes place in the modern day, but sets and costumes make you feel it's decades ago. I guess some people may feel something's off about the film because of that. After the first 10 minutes or so I wasn't hooked, but later it got me interested. It turned out to be a light, but smart and enjoyable film with fantastic cinematography. The ending is great.

Looper (2012) - This one I saw when it came out but rewatched recently. It's arguably Johnson's best film. Very bold and original for a contemporary sci-fi. Great, well-executed idea. And, as always, visually brilliant.

Another thing worth attention is that he also directed three episodes of Braking Bad, including commonly acclaimed 'Ozymandias' and controversial 'Fly'.

All in all it made me pretty confident about Episode VIII. Looking back at Johnson's filmography (its originality) it is almost certain that heavy rehashing won't happen again. Star Wars seems to be in good hands. It looks like Lucasfilm and Disney put money on this guy and his vision... I mean - Johnson wrote it (according to rumours he'll write IX too), directs it, brought his long-time producer and cinematographer... That's a lot of input. Fingers crossed.

If you don't know this director, here's a nice montage of scenes from his films. Maybe this will make you interested:

 
Just saw Steve Jobs - great script, great performances by Fassbender and Winslet, but not much of a movie. Lots of talking in hallways about events we don't see happen. I get what they were going for, but it's not a very engaging movie, despite the brilliant Sorkin dialogue and energetic directing.

@Srogyy - Rian Johnson is great and can't wait to see his Star Wars input. Judging by his previous films, there will be some sort of mystery involved.

- I love Brick. It's a very standard noir told with epic style and flipped from the usual middle-aged POV.
- Brother Blooms I need to see again. I remember enjoying it, but feeling like it was just a little...off.
- Looper was amazing, but something about it didn't jump off the screen for me. Again, one I need to rewatch.
- Johnson's episodes of Breaking Bad are incredible, including "Fly", which I first thought was rather bizarre and boring. A stellar character piece.
 
I hated 'Fly' when I saw it. ;) I remember it felt too surreal and filler-ish to me. I have to check it out again, though. I'm sure I will appreciate it now. Hm... Maybe it's a good idea to rewatch Breaking Bad - probably the best TV series of all time - in its entirety :P
 
SixesAlltheway said:
Who remembers video stores?
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I do! I literally thought about it the other day. Magical place for me as a kid. Ah, the thrill of browsing the walls of VHS boxes in search of some kind of cool animated Batman or something like that... I'm wondering whether everything used to be more exciting back then or you just become miserable with age. :bigsmile:

I watched The Danish Girl yesterday. Eddie Redmayne should get the Oscar again... I've seen all the nominated performances beside Cranston and this one seems the richest.
 
Just watched Spotlight. Amazing cast, very nice directing, powerful movie. All that said, it was a little too repetitive in the talk department and a little light on any type of interesting visuals.

Srogyy said:
I do! I literally thought about it the other day. Magical place for me as a kid. Ah, the thrill of browsing the walls of VHS boxes in search of some kind of cool animated Batman or something like that... I'm wondering whether everything used to be more exciting back then or you just become miserable with age. :bigsmile:
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Still have one in my hometown. It's the dive bar equivalent of a video store, but it is MASSIVE and has movies floor to ceiling.
 
I remember them well (and shops where you could rent TVs and VCRs). Oddly enough, I don't think I ever hired a video.
 
The Expanse just finished its 1st season. I thought it was great, finally a TV series set in space that's quality. Episode 8 was when I really got hooked, though. Cast is pretty great and it's heavily serialized so there's no time for filler episodes that have nothing to do with the main plot. Already renewed for Season 2, but the ratings aren't really good... so I hope that until S2 starts people will binge the show and ratings pick up, would be a shame if the show doesn't continue.
 
Let's hope it takes off so that someone can pick up one of the more original space operas for TV or cinema. Leviathan Wakes was decent, but it's ridiculous that people take to the most generic of the bunch over Reynolds, Banks or Robinson, to name a few.
 
The Danish Girl - great performance from Alicia Vikander, but I'm about done with Eddie Redmayne. His acting is like the indie film equivalent of Al Pacino, he's batting those eyes and making reaction faces to the effing rafters and it's ridiculous. Overall, I did not enjoy the film and was bored out of my mind.
 
Going to go see Hail Caesar this week, with the exception of Ladykillers, always enjoy the Coen Brothers movies
 
I might get to see Hateful Eight this week. What's the general feeling around here, is it worth it? (I generally like Tarantino stuff, if that's any help.)
 
Brigantium said:
I might get to see Hateful Eight this week. What's the general feeling around here, is it worth it? (I generally like Tarantino stuff, if that's any help.)
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Definitely worth it. It's not Tarantino's finest work, but still a solid film. It's much smaller in scale compared to Django and Inglourious Basterds. Something closer to Reservoir Dogs, I'd say. Dialogues and acting are great as always, but I wasn't blown away by the overall story. Enjoyable film (first half is a little boring, though).
 
It's mostly dialogue-based, but other stuff happens too. ;) There's quite a lot of tension so it doesn't feel they're just babbling all the time.
 
It's very similar to Reservoir Dogs and - believe or not, with it being a western and all - it's also very similar to Carpenter's The Thing (as was allegedly Tarantino's intention). It's rather bleak, so don't expect another Django, but it might be actually my #3 Tarantino, right after Dogs and Django (and on par with Basterds). But I'm weird. Anyway, you probably won't be disappointed. ;)
 
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