Films/DVD Asylum

Retro future

69.14.231.16

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Thread: Display All Email ] [ Films/DVD Asylum ]

jbmcb

(A)

In Reply to: Sin City is a damn good movie! posted by EdM on April 7, 2005 at 12:37:53:

I love movies with the "retro future" look to them. Metropolis was probably the first. The anime remake of Metropolis carries on that theme, and is otherwise just as visually stunning as the first was in it's day. City of Lost Children has a more Jules Verne inspired look. Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow is also great, if you avoid paying attention to the plot and just focus on the pretty pictures. I haven't seen Wild Wild West yet, the whole western themed high tech thing seems off-putting to me. Besides which I heard it was a horrible movie :)
I'm looking forward to watching Steamboy when it comes out on DVD, not in it's current, chopped theatrical release.

/*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/

Follow Ups:

Have to disagree here - Jack G 11:27:33 04/08/05 (4)
> > > Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow is also great, if you avoid paying attention to the plot and just focus on the pretty pictures < < <
Sorry, but as a rule, I don't like effects just for the sake of effects.
I found Sky captain to be very tedious, and it left me with a headache. It was the worst movie I've seen in years. Good FX are not a substitute for a good story-The Day after Tommorrow is a perfect example of FX in desperate need of a story-another waste of FX.
Jack
- Eye candy movies - jbmcb 12:37:33 04/08/05 (3)
  > Good FX are not a substitute for a good story-The Day after Tommorrow is a perfect example of FX in desperate need of a story-another waste of FX.
  Eyecandy movies have their place, I find they are actually better with little to no plot instead of a bad plot. Sky Captain, to paraphrase the great Joe Bob Brigs, had "... no plot to get in the way of the story."
  If I feel like watching a mindless movie, I'd rather there be lots of really nice scenery with minimal talking/plot mucking up the pretty pictures. Star Wars Episode I is an excellent example of a crappy plot and bad acting getting in the way of amazingly good visuals.
  2001 is the ultimate example of the semi-plotless movie. It looks amazing, but doesn't have a plot in the conventional sense of the word. I've heard theories that the plot is actually based on music, with a first, second and third "movement" pretty well delineated (Dawn of man / 2001 / Beyond the infinite) The music in the movie progresses in the same fashion (no music/noise -> classical -> avantgarde, Philip Glass-esque opera)
  
  /*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/
  - Jesus, you're bringing 2001 into a discussion of Captain? - tinear 14:47:43 04/08/05 (1)
    The "plot" of 2001 is convoluted, sure, but it has one: the visting of earth by a far more evolved society and its impact.
    Of course, it is also the most intelligent (condensed greatly) history of human science and the ultimate fate of the species that so alters "nature."
    As time passes, we shall find out if the computer is really our friend or as Clarke/Kubrick envisioned.
    - Connections & Circles - jbmcb 21:14:03 04/08/05 (0)
      > Jesus, you're bringing 2001 into a discussion of Captain?
      Yep, in film analysis and comparison any movie is fair game :)
      > The "plot" of 2001 is convoluted, sure, but it has one: the visting of earth by a far more evolved society and its impact.
      Well, that's the plot in the book. They never come right out and say the monolith is alien technology in the movie. It's more of a symbol, or placeholder for human evolution, or perhaps the punctuated equilibrium thereof. The plot of 2001 deals with human evolution and the human reliance on technology, which isn't really a complete plot unto itself, it's just what the film is about.
      > and the ultimate fate of the species that so alters "nature."
      Interesting question: if humans are the products of natural evolution, how are the creations of humans unnatural? Are bird nests unnatural? Are beaver dams unnatural? Of course the movie posits that external forces shaped human evolution, and tool use is not a factor of natural evolution. Fascinating, as Mr. Spock would say :)
      > As time passes, we shall find out if the computer is really our friend or as Clarke/Kubrick envisioned.
      HTML tag not allowed
      
      HAL wasn't really evil, it was just carrying out it's instructions, which were to lie, which it was programmed never to do, hence the breakdown. A computer, like any tool, isn't evil* in and of itself, it's only evil if it is used for evil purposes. HAL, being somewhat sentient, could be an exception, however it's evil acts were brought about by human intervention. Without the human's requirement of duplicity, HAL would not have "malfunctioned."
      * Define evil as irrationally bad/damaging behavior as caused by any reason you prefer (insanity, demonic posession, chemical imbalances, moonbeams, whatever.)
      
      /*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/
  - You have a point - Jack G 14:17:22 04/08/05 (0)
    I agree that eye candy has its place, and I've enjoyed a few myself, but I do think that it is easy to go overboard. Sky Captain and Day After Tomorrow are perfect examples-at best they bored me, at worst made me ill. I thought the original Star Wars trilogy was eye candy, with minimal fairy tale stories. I didn't care for Episode 1-it bored me.
    For eye candy with a little more thought, you might wish to try Casshern-visually stunning and emotionally draining.
    Jack
"[Steamboy's] current, chopped theatrical release." Hmm... - clarkjohnsen 09:50:55 04/08/05 (1)
The difference is some 22 minutes, I have read. The "chopped" version already was just slightly tedious, so one must wonder...
On the other hand, if the cuts took place during the exposition, that would explain some of the uncomfortable transitions between scenes.
However, the "cut" version, already pretty long, featured some of the finest English dubbing I've ever heard and is well worth it for that aspect.
Here in Boston both versions were on display but I did not avail myself of a rerun, although I do very much want to see it again.
Last week I read that the film had garnered a whopping... $389,000.
clark
- Steamboy - jbmcb 12:27:41 04/08/05 (0)
  Yeah, I heard it was a bit draggy. I'd still rather see the whole thing subtitled, I prefer foreign movies that way. The unedited version of the Anime "Nausicaa" by Miyasaki was draggy in the middle, but with those bits edited out the rest of the movie didn't make sense. Disney released the original hacked verison of that movie in the 80's, and it's why there hadn't been any Ghibli movies released in the US through the late 90's.
  The popcorn is better at my friend's mega-hometheater anyway's :)
  
  /*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.

You can not post to an archived thread.