The "last movie I saw" thread

[Walter Sobchak]

12 Strong, a story about the first special forces in Afghanistan after 9.11. The story has plenty of action, involves a historical baseline about the first efforts to combat the Taliban with the Northern Alliance on horseback. The action and casting is well-done but the story doesn't allow for a lot of depth.

Because war movies, by and large (e.g. those that aren't cautionary tales), are nothing more than state-sponsored propaganda.

Rarely do you get a war movie that is honest about the costs of engaging in war (let alone willfully engaging in such)... see Saving Private Ryan, Dr. Strangelove, et al.

[Topper]

Because war movies, by and large (e.g. those that aren't cautionary tales), are nothing more than state-sponsored propaganda.

Rarely do you get a war movie that is honest about the costs of engaging in war (let alone willfully engaging in such)... see Saving Private Ryan, et al.

Operation Chromite had strong performances from the Korean speaking actors but Liam Neeson portraying McCarthur was not a great choice.

[creekster]

Because war movies, by and large (e.g. those that aren't cautionary tales), are nothing more than state-sponsored propaganda.

Rarely do you get a war movie that is honest about the costs of engaging in war (let alone willfully engaging in such)... see Saving Private Ryan, et al.

State-sponsored?

[Walter Sobchak]

State-sponsored?

Pretty much. The jingoistic cult of US military reverence is pervasive... from movies down to TV shows. You see a lot of anti-war sentiment expressed in media?! Nope.

For example, do you think a network like NBC is going to be critical of the US military misadventures when its parent company GE has military contracts worth billions of dollars? No fucking way.

[Pelado]

Pretty much. The jingoistic cult of US military reverence is pervasive... from movies down to TV shows. You see a lot of anti-war sentiment expressed in media?! Nope.

For example, do you think a network like NBC is going to be critical of the US military misadventures when its parent company GE has military contracts worth billions of dollars? No fucking way.

Didn't GE sell NBC?

Edit: Just looked it up. GE sold a controlling interest in NBC Universal to Comcast, but retained as much as 49% of the resulting joint venture.

[myboynoah]

Drain the swamp!

[Katy Lied]

Hostiles. I am in love with this movie, for me it's the best western since Lonesome Dove, coincidentally about two other veterans of the Civil and Indian wars IIRC. Christian Bales buries himself so deeply in his character that all through his first scene I wasn't positive that it was him. The critics say that the first scene is memorably horrific, and I agree, but the first scene with Bales (nearing retirement and talking with his best friend and fellow 20-year veteran of the Indian Wars) was great acting, lighting, directing, and cinematography.

I was previously acquainted with Rosamund Pike's work in Gone Girl and her littering up the screen in my favorite Jack Reacher flick, and her performance here is better than anything she has done before. I'm betting that she says less than 200 words the entire movie, and has to emote with her eyes and her body. Wes Studi is also great, like he always is when they let his characters go beyond the typical tobacco store indian characterization.

The movie shows the Bales character truly grappling with his soul and transcending his history in a manner that makes DiCaprio and the Bear look disneyish. The script doesn't fall prey to trite plot templates. When Rosamund Pike's character turns to comfort Bales in a tent in a storm, there is no physical attraction there- just an offer to share one personal set of miseries with another.

This part is delicate: at one point in the movie all three women are raped. A monstrous thing, but precious little time can be expended on dwelling on the atrocity. There is so much danger and the women have experienced so many other brutalities it is almost as if they tell each other to walk it off; the company needs to keep moving and they are still alive.

Spoiler for Spoiler+:

In the plot theme "Boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back," sometime the losing girl part of the plot is so thin you think, watching, "Brother, when will they get back together?" In this movie, I was completely fooled. But at the end of the movie, when he hops onto the train just as it pulls out of the station, the audience erupts into applause.

[clackamascoug]

Yes, Yes, A thousand times yes!

[Jeff Lebowski]

That’s interesting, KL. The reviews from the critics are mixed. Maybe I will give it a chance after all.

[frank ryan]

That’s interesting, KL. The reviews from the critics are mixed. Maybe I will give it a chance after all.

I saw it as well. I thought it was solid. Very beautifully shot. It's by Scott Cooper who did Out of the Furnace, Crazy Heart, and Black Mass. I enjoyed a cameo by Ryan Bingham.

[jay santos]

Saw the Three Billboards movie last night. Loved it. Best film in a year for me. Great acting. Great dialogue. Going in, I was worried it could be boring, with not enough story for a two hour movie. But it was gripping.

I saw a criticism of this film that it was trying too hard to be a Cohen Brothers film. I think that's why I loved it so much. I was expecting a classic, fighting-against-the-odds type, serious drama. But I just loved the Cohen Brothers style hilarious dialogue, lol type disastrous decision making by characters, etc. Very enjoyable film.

[hostile]

I saw a criticism of this film that it was trying too hard to be a Cohen Brothers film. I think that's why I loved it so much. I was expecting a classic, fighting-against-the-odds type, serious drama. But I just loved the Cohen Brothers style hilarious dialogue, lol type disastrous decision making by characters, etc. Very enjoyable film.

My wife and I both loved it also, for those same reasons.

[creekster]

My wife and I both loved it also, for those same reasons.

Isnt Frances McDormand married to a Cohen brother? I always assumed that the Cohens were involved at some level.

[Northwestcoug]

Isnt Frances McDormand married to a Cohen brother? I always assumed that the Cohens were involved at some level.

Leonard Cohen had a brother?

[hostile]

Isnt Frances McDormand married to a Cohen brother? I always assumed that the Cohens were involved at some level.

Yes. Joel Coen.