TFP Movie Review Thread

Furious 7 had the most ridiculous dialogue I've heard in any movie in a long time... Since Segal finally stopped making movies. That being said, the stunts were cool, overblown as usual... The men were hot as hell (thank you, Statham) and it was actually entertaining. Hubs liked the lady bootie, too. And that's really why we watch these movies, right? Hot men fighting, cars doing extraordinary things, lady bootie, and crashes.

Jupiter Ascending? Not so much. Horrible, horrible movie. But then, it *was* Channing Tatum (suckage) air ice skating (for real?) and trying to save Mila Kings from some anime-looking aliens (yeesh).

 

I want to see Mad Max Fury Road, but have no problem waiting until I can see it for free. Hell I might dust off my wallet if I find it cheap enough.

Somewhere we have some movie passes that my wife received as a gift.

 

I went to Mad Max Fury Road again.
Look I know for many of you this might not be your thing but let me try to sell you on why it's important to see this movie.
First of all, yes it's a continuation of a series from 20 years ago... sort of.
The fact is that the previous movies while sort of important, don't make this movie one way or the other.
What is important is that it was made completely free of studio control, by a director with a vision who cared deeply about making an amazing movie.

It is a master class on how to make an action movie but also providing grand character arcs without constantly stopping to explain everything.
And speaking of stopping... no not really.
There are a few quiet moments but they are such a strong counterpoint to the rest that you are actually stunned by them and not the action.
The filming is beautiful, and knowing that most of the people are actually doing the things you are seeing, not working in front of a green screen, makes it even more impressive.
You will see things you have never seen before, I guarantee it.

Speaking of the characters, Imperator Furiosa is everything you have heard about and more.
The main thing that impressed me was that, throughout the movie she deals with a missing a good chunk of her arm and nobody mentions it.
Not one word is said about it, no backstory given, or mention of how it happened.
What other movie would that happen in?

The main reason I'm pushing people to go see this movie is that despite getting great reviews and everyone I know who has seen it loving it, it's not making huge bank.
This means we won't be seeing movies like it again anytime soon, which just isn't right.
I want to be able to go see a movie like this at least once a year if not twice or three times.
If I can talk as many of you as possible into seeing it, then maybe we will see more movies like it.

 

I have thought about seeing it a second time while it was still in the theaters. That musical apparatus had me laughing out loud when I saw it.

 

One problem is I never saw the appeal of the original MM.

 

Which is why I said it's a continuation 'sort of'.
He is certainly important to the story and his arc is a great one but the real story is about Furiosa and the woman she is saving.
For that matter it's about the cultures that have developed in this wasteland.
For all that it appears to be one long chase sequence there are a lot of themes and concepts being explored at the same time, the director just doesn't beat you over the head with them.
And even though he is dealing with woman who have been sex slaves he doesn't need to show the rapes (I'm looking at you GoT), yet he manages to make it clear the damage that has been caused to them.

 

I don't like action movies. There have been a few over the years that I enjoyed as guilty pleasures, simply because the character development and "deeper meaning" were so campily scripted that I found them vaguely enjoyable.

My wife and I went to see this movie this past weekend simply because we wanted to go to the movies and this was the only film playing at the multiplex that was getting better than lukewarm reviews.

I wasn't expecting much at all.

I was thoroughly impressed, and find myself recommending this movie to anyone asking what they should go see.

The reason I liked this is because George Miller seemed to simultaneously reject and embrace action movie tropes, and in the process, told a strong story without any exposition whatsoever.

Your review captured that aspect well. I don't know how conscientious Miller was in telling that story--whether he intentionally decided to let the imagery tell the story, or if he decided to ignore it altogether, and purely by accident conveyed everything we needed to know.

To me, this movie is the apex of summer movies: mindless escapism that keeps you glued to the screen for 2 hours, completely forgetting the world outside, and enjoying every second of it. I walked out of the theater wondering, "What did I just watch?" and immediately wanting to turn around and go watch it again.

As an aside, I am convinced that Miller was influenced by the opening sequence from Rock Band 2, which I believe was influenced by the original Mad Max series.

 

Haven't watched Fast & Furious 7 yet, figure I should watch the 6th film first. The 5th film was the one where they are dragging the bank vault at the end correct?
This Mad Max film is very likely going to be on the "netflix list or at the very earliest redbox. The last film I watched in a theatre was Edge of Tomorrow, which was well worth the money and seeing on the big screen in my opinion.

 

I liked edge of tomorrow. Fury road was better.

 

I really liked Live, Die, Repeat (seriously, why did it take until they released the DVD to figure out that was a better name for the Edge of Tomorrow?)
It was one of the best films of that summer and should have been a hit.
Which is why I'm pushing Fury Road, the last thing I want is for it to go the way of Live, Die, Repeat (which might of done fine with that name).

@Imbecile to your thought about if Miller intentionally decided to let the imagery tell the story, I read an interview where he always tried to picture how Buster Keaton filmed The Great Train Robbery.
I've also seen interviews with the actors where they talk about trying to figure out how to make their characters personalities come across using little dialogue and under great stress but every one of them seems to have loved the experience.
The actresses who played the Vuvalini insisted on doing their own stunts which pretty much proved they were as tough as their characters.

 

I have a couple of older movies on DVD that I just got around to watching (made my wife give up her Sunday afternoon of garbage TV series reruns ).

The Life of David Gale, 2003. I admit to being prejudiced--I like Kevin Spacey's acting, and respect for Kate Winslet for saying that she wasn't going starve herself in order to fit the "Hollywood idea" of what a female "star" is supposed to look like. It's about a college professor who was falsely accused of rape (he's set-up by a vindictive former student), an incident that plays a large role in him later being convicted in the rape & murder of an anti-death penalty activist. Basically the movie makes you question how easily people are convicted based on flimsy circumstantial evidence and the death penalty. The plot twists are not exactly as surprising as the promo blurb on the case indicates, but it's worth watching.

The Lucky Ones, 2008. This is a film about three soldiers. Tim Robbins plays a reservist who takes a dicharge after suffering a back injury. Michael Pena is a soldier who suffers an interesting injury (it's best not to say too much) and is given a 30 day leave. Rachel McAdams is a soldier with a leg injury who also has a 30 day leave. They end up travelling together and subsequently become privy to each others private lives and problems. The movie isn't pro-war or anti-war, it is pro-soldier in that it shows how personal problems affect those who serve in the military. My one gripe is a scene involving a "CGI" tornado; it was unnecessary.

 

This is one I want to see.



It premiered last night at the Telluride Film Festival

 

I'm only posting so that I can more easily find this thread once I go through a few movies and have something to write.

 

Buying mad max on Blu Ray at target right now.

 

Picked it up yesterday.
What a lovely day!

 

So I saw The Hateful 8 yesterday. This was the special limited engagement super 70 picture. Loved the movie, but I like everything Tarantino does. If you like Tarantino, you will like this. The interesting thing though was the medium. Nobody even shoots on film anymore, much less 70 mm film. To screen this theaters had to get old school projectors. Also, because of the special projectors, there were no commercials or bullshit theater announcements before the start. There were also no previews because nothing was shot in 70 mm. So it was pretty cool for the actual movie to start on time. There was also an actual intermission which was good because the movie is almost three hours long. All in all, it was a pretty cool experience.

 

I was telling one of my sisters about some funny scenes in Reservoir Dogs, namely Chip-In-On-The-Tip and Mr. Yellow. and she expressed an interest in seeing it. She's no prude, but there is no way she could sit through RD. I warned her several times you will not be able to get past the language and some of the subject matter, you'll never finish it.

 

So Mrs. Lance & I were killing time last Sunday afternoon and went to see the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler movie "Sisters."

I laughed my ass off for two solid hours. I've been trying to learn Fur Elise on the piano and can't play it without totally losing my shit. Very worth the price of admission.