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 alien_avatar
Captain
Joined: Oct 28, 2006
Member#: 16007
Posts: 1342
Location: Berlin
   
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 Posted:
Thu Jan 05, 2017 6:14 pm Post subject: |
 
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STAR TREK BEYOND
I actually avoided watching that movie just because I knew I wouldn't like it.
And guess what? I didn't. 
Visually appealing. Nice action sequences... but too many.
Story was very weak, bordering on complete nonsense, IMO.
Kind of worked as a random action/sci-fi flick, but this definitively wasn't Star Trek.
I sooo wanted to love the Trek reboot, but it just isn't happening.
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"Welcome to the paranoia club; cheapest fees in the universe and membership lasts forever."
- Peter F. Hamilton, The Evolutionary Void |
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 LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
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Posted:
Tue Mar 07, 2017 8:45 pm Post subject: |
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RUSALKA
I watched this stream live from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. I was intrigued by this opera and by the new production since I heard about it last year.
I liked it, but... it's still an opera. I will tell you right now I am not "one of those rare eccentrics who goes to the opera for the music."* I go for the stories and the costumes and the occasional devastatingly hot baritone. So parts of this bored me. I much prefer watching recorded operas, where I can take breaks. I'm a Philistine, I guess.
* Dangerous Liaisons (film)
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LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
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Posted:
Tue Mar 28, 2017 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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I watched Risen recently. This movie tells the story of a Roman soldier, played by Joseph Fiennes, tasked with investigating rumors that Jesus, who was just crucified, had risen from the dead.
It's Lent, and I'm here struggling with my Catholicism. I heard good reviews of this movie, which is totally an old-fashioned Biblical epic, so despite my wariness I checked it out. The first half is actually pretty interesting. There's no magic in this part. It's all on the human level, and makes the period feel populated by real people, if that makes sense. But it all goes downhill fast when Fiennes's character actually meets the risen Jesus.
See, I was hoping that something different would happen here. Because once you meet a living dead man, well, that kinda confirms the miracle, doesn't it? It stops being a story about finding faith and becomes a story about following rational conclusions with hard evidence, which is great for the people doing it, I guess, but for the folks at home, it seems too easy. This is also the part where all the female characters drop out of movie, reminding me that Jesus is really here to talk to the guys, and then the guys can tell me whatever he said that was important. That's if they bother to talk to women, which it looks like they stopped doing.
I also watched Hidden Figures before it disappeared from theaters. I had a good time. We need more movies about female scientists and engineers, of all colors.
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LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
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Posted:
Mon Jul 10, 2017 10:58 am Post subject: |
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Wow, this thread needs waking up.
THE BEGUILED
This is what I saw most recently in a theater. I don't know if I liked it, but I'm still thinking about it. Parts of it scared me, but I wish there had been more ... action, and less tension, if you follow me. I agree with the reviews that read it like a fairy tale.
WONDER WOMAN
I saw this when it came out, and I liked it. I like how funny it is, really funny, and how it doesn't have to be so deadly serious all the time like SOME hero movies these days. I like how Diana does some "feminine" things, like try to comfort a shell-shocked soldier, and they're not presented as weakness. I love comics but admit I don't have a firm grasp of Wonder Woman. It's a common problem. But this Wonder Woman, I liked her.
I didn't love it completely. The score, which I've listened to a couple of times, is boring. It's all stuff we've heard before and I wanted it to be special but it's not. I'll write a more detailed review of the album later.
And I didn't like the ending. Spoiler: | Diana kills the German general pretty coldly, because she thinks he's the God of War and his death will end all evil. We all knew he wasn't really Ares, but she's never seen a movie, so I forgive her that. But there's never any fallout from the way she killed, yes, an enemy combatant, but still just a human man. If she's all about love, I feel like there should have been some consequences to that action, at least in her own head. |
And of course, the finale "explosion in the special-effects warehouse" was dull, because every movie does that.
But I loved the part about ice cream. And Etta Candy. And normally I don't like Chris Pine for his mugging, but I liked him here. He was gracefully the second banana, and more guys need to know how to do that.
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danleich
Lieutenant
Joined: Apr 26, 2015
Member#: 37055
Posts: 174
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Posted:
Sun Oct 01, 2017 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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Mmh I guess that belongs here.
So I was just to the cinema to see the Hans Zimmer concert they recorded in Prague. I went in with low expectations as I am not the biggest fan of his recent works and I heard his concerts are loud, something of which i am not a big fan either. But since it was in a cinema and comparably cheap for a concert I gave it a shot. And to sum it up shortly, it was LOUD. Even with the regulation from the cinema speakers you could hear that the volume during recording must have been at maximum for a greater part of the concert.
Ok, some more details. In contrast to your everyday film music concert, Hans was on the stage with "his band" (some of his friends and other soloists) performing mostly e-instuments, framed by a massive lightshow and some visual effects on a screen behind the stage, as well as an orchestra for support. The additional choir had it's own solo during Crimson Tide, but apart from that was also purely supportive. And it was really nice to watch the concert, the light effects were well done (although some shots with the camera were not well placed aka being blinded by the light), the performance of the artists top notch from what i could tell, but, and unfortunately i must emphasize it again it was too loud. Several times it was noise playing the melody that you were expecting and looking for, which did not work well with some of his older pieces. In contrast, some of his more recent work was really great, the Electro-Suite from The Amazing Spiderman 2 was the best track IMO. It was almost as if it was written for this kind of performance.
The program spanned his most known themes, from Miss Daisy to Interstellar. And I recognized all but two tracks, one was revealed to be The Thin Red Line and the other was part of the opening medley. Also Jingle music was on, both Rain Man and You're So Cool  Nice treat for me as SST fan
So final verdict: If you are Hans Zimmer fan, go ahead and look for the Blu-Ray/DVD. It will give you nice two and a half hours of Hans performing with a great live show, best enjoyed on a large home theater. If you want to hear nice versions of his music, IMO you have to check somewhere else. I am glad though that I saw this concert, it was a nice evening and a nice (and cheaper) alternative to seeing him live |
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LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
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Posted:
Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:02 am Post subject: |
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BLEAK HOUSE
This is an adaptation of the Dickens novel made by the BBC along with my local PBS affiliate. It stars Gillian Anderson, and a bunch of people who were on Doctor Who at some point. It was long, at 16 hours, but I enjoyed it. Sure, there's melodrama, and one spontaneous human combustion played completely straight, but I got into it and I'm glad I watched it.
A ROYAL AFFAIR
Hoopla thought I'd be interested in this, so I watched it. It's a period scenery and costume extravaganza, telling the story of King Christian VII of Denmark, who befriends a German doctor who in turn more-than-befriends the king's wife, and also brings a whole bunch of legal reforms to the country. If you think Mads Mikklesen is sexy (and I kinda do) and want to hear him act in Danish, this is your movie. I liked it well enough, but the more of these period things I watch, the more I realize how truly awful life was for most people back then.
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 martino 
Commander
Joined: Jan 12, 2009
Member#: 24057
Posts: 596
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Posted:
Tue Oct 24, 2017 8:56 am Post subject: |
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If you are an art lover ...
if you like an unconventional animations ...
if you are fond of (very sad) mysteroius stories ...
you should watch LOVING VINCENT, a British-Polish production, the world's first fully painted feature film.
I loved the idea of telling Vincent van Gogh's story in a style of his paintings. A big round of applause for 125 painters!
I loved the music written by Clint Mansell, it fits perfectly.
A very interesting website: http://lovingvincent.com/ |
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LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
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Posted:
Tue Oct 24, 2017 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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That seems like a neat movie, martino. Thanks.
I just watched Professor Marston and the Wonder Women. It's about the man who invented Wonder Woman, and the unconventional relationship he shared with his wife Elizabeth and their love Olive.
It's basically Kinsey meets Shakespeare in Love. We see how the man's biography inspired him to create the superheroine, with both the biography and the comics becoming increasingly kinky. His family has said that the personal stuff if the film is all fiction. Okay. I, myself, came away from the movie not feeling like I really understood who any of these people were, or what was really going on in their heads.
I did, however, also come away thinking it would have been awesome to hang out with Charles Guyette, if he was anything like they portrayed him in this movie. I think the scenes with him were my favorites. He just seemed so nice and matter-of-face about the whole ropes and heels scene. Anthropologically, all that fascinates me.
It's a good movie, but I don't think it's a great one. It got me out of the house on a weekend, though, and that is worth something.
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I have a book coming out. Wanna see it?
http://www.jessicalevai.com/sternendach-a-vampire-opera-in-verse/ |
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LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
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Posted:
Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE
I re-watched this today to see what this print that I got for Christmas and just hung up. I saw this movie years ago and didn't remember much other than not liking it. On a second viewing, it's a nonsensical and boring as I remember, and I'm a little sorry I wasted the time, except I was snowed in with the kids and hey, a movie!
My print is better, more interesting, and makes more sense.
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I have a book coming out. Wanna see it?
http://www.jessicalevai.com/sternendach-a-vampire-opera-in-verse/ |
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LadyInque
Captain
Joined: May 20, 2005
Member#: 10281
Posts: 2224
Location: Eastern Massachusetts
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Posted:
Thu Mar 07, 2019 9:39 am Post subject: |
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Wow, did I really re-watch Howl almost a year ago? Where does the time go?
Now, I can't stop watching Original Cast Album: Co-op. Seriously, I've watched it about 5 times, and found the music on youtube so now I don't need to wait for the whole thing to load. I'll probably be sick of it in a couple of weeks, but right now, I just want Seth Meyers to be my internet boyfriend more than ever.
I also finished watching The Pirates of Penzance with my kids yesterday, in honor of Frederic's birthday.
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http://www.jessicalevai.com/sternendach-a-vampire-opera-in-verse/ |
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