What Is The Last Film You Watched?

The Matrix video game was one of the worst games I've ever played. So bad Atari tried to bribe people to give it good reviews.

Are there any good games at all btw?

I mean really good ones. Like, say, Jaws or Citizen Kane, or Gustav Mahler. You know, the kind of stuff that changes the way you perceive yourself and the world around you. Masterpieces in execution and sublime in content.

Karol

Yes, Football Manager.

I wasn't being sarcastic, you know.

Karol

Neither was I!

That's interesting. How is that?

I don't play games, you see. Well, sometimes I do. But that's mostly to kill some time or something like that. Generally, they don't offer me anything that would help me immmerse in the world. It's always way too predictable and you're expected to hit certain points and that's where it ends. Plots are usually dull and stuff like that. So I was being curious.

Karol

crocodile's skeleton wrote:
Anyway, did anyone notice the monitors from the Architect room make their first appearance in the first film? Never noticed that before.

Karol

When? I know he's mentioned but never identified.

Don't get immersed in games? You probably haven't played since SNES!

Here. They even distort the image the same way.

Oh and about the games. There was one called Black & White years ago, which I thought was interesting. I liked the Thief series, mostly because it was about anything but the things you usually do in these FPP things. But it still isn't perfect, especially the AI. But that was quite some time ago. I don't really follow the new releases.

Karol

crocodile's skeleton wrote:Are there any good games at all btw?

I mean really good ones. Like, say, Jaws or Citizen Kane, or Gustav Mahler. You know, the kind of stuff that changes the way you perceive yourself and the world around you. Masterpieces in execution and sublime in content.

Karol

LOL! Absolutely. There's about fifty or so masterpiece video games which match the greatness of movies like Jaws etc. Easily. Don't even ask me to name some because I could roll them off quicker than I could think of great movies of the past twenty years, seriously. Honestly Karol, I think you're touching on an area where you're clearly out of your depth in. I'd move away from the video game thing if I were you.

crocodile's skeleton wrote:
Anyway, did anyone notice the monitors from the Architect room make their first appearance in the first film? Never noticed that before.

Karol

The Architect was the undoing of The Matrix as a contemporary mythology. That, and the major misfire which was the revelation that Neo was merely another in a long sequence of "The Ones". Needless expositional plot devices which amount to the Wachowski equivalents of Midichlorians.

Upended Quint wrote:
Honestly Karol, I think you're touching on an area where you're clearly out of your depth in. I'd move away from the video game thing if I were you.

You're right. I'll better come back to soltaire on my PC.

Upended Quint wrote:
The Architect was the undoing of The Matrix as a contemporary mythology. That, and the major misfire which was the revelation that Neo was merely another in a long sequence of "The Ones". Needless expositional plot devices which amount to the Wachowski equivalents of Midichlorians.

I kind of like that idea, actually. My point is Reloaded at least offers a twist to The One story. I like the idea that Neo is on his own now and that all the predestination stuff was a huge pile of bollocks. It ups the stakes and makes the previously-unseen antagonist dangerous. The problem is, none of this comes to play in Revolutions. I can appreciate what they were trying to accomplish symbolically with the trilogy, but, as a plot, it doesn't work.

Karol

Oh right I remember that scene. The franchise turned from something interesting, which made sense despite being a bit complicated. Reloaded and Revolutions are ultimate cheese though. Reloaded has great action scenes, but it's laughable in so many ways. From the very beginning, Trinity does that triple back flip explosion thing and lands on her feet. She takes off her helmet and is wearing sunglasses, and it's night! I started rolling. The cool vibe of the sunglasses, leather coats, crazy hair cuts, etc. skyrocketed in the sequels. The French dude's speech at the dinner table was ridiculously hilarious. In the first film, the explanations for this universe the writers created needed long explanations. Here this guy took 10 minutes to say something that could have taken 10 seconds. Revolutions is just bad writing, the dialogue is crap and they ruined it by acknowledging that the Oracle was a different actress. Replace her and move on. It's not like Nolan made an excuse for Maggie Gylenhaal replacing Katie Holmes by saying she got plastic surgery. I will say though that the final battle between Neo and Smith is all kinds of awesome.

I still haven't seen Revolutions.

My interest in seeing how it all ended was somewhat lessened when I found out (via spoilerific internets) what happens to the protagonist in the end.

Yeah I had the same thing with Raiders. You know, where the main protagonist accomplishes almost nothing throughout the duration of the film

Karol

Upended Quint wrote:I still haven't seen Revolutions.

My interest in seeing how it all ended was somewhat lessened when I found out (via spoilerific internets) what happens to the protagonist in the end.

Neo dying? I won't lie, it's a truly awful film, but I recommend seeing it if only to conclude the trilogy. Seeing it for the second time though, I must say the effects hold up quite well, and James Cameron's Avatar becomes even more derivative when I realize the mechs are straight out of this film.


I just got back from Contagion. It tries to bite off more than it can chew, but I thought it was good. It's amazing how many good films Soderbergh can make.

Revolutions is a stunning underachievement. When I first saw it, I thought I'm watching a preview and that they will release a proper cut later on. I don't think Reloaded is a great film, but at least it tries to expand the world. This one is a snore bore. At least Don Davis delivers.

But, Quint, I would watch it. If only out of morbid curiosity.

Karol

The Deep

Very enjoyable two hours and change. The diving sequences were absolutely beautiful, but also very exciting and harrowing. I had never seen the film before, but I know I've seen the scene where Louis Gossett searches the happy couple, and establishes just how intent a villain he will be.

I kept feeling that Benchley intended Robert Shaw's character to be a continuation of his Quint character, based on how Shaw portrayed him. I have not read the novel. And it was interesting to see how everything established in the water -- the air pocket, the eel -- has a purpose.

Oh, and Jacqueline Bissett's swimsuit, or apparent lack thereof in the opening scene....nice.

Gamera

Just bought the new Mystery Science Theater 3000 set with all of those Gamera movies. Classic stuff.


KENNNNNNNYYYY!!

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets. Not a very good film at all. Really clunky writing. Neither is the score, which is mostly a hodge-podge job anyway. Enjoyable, but there's not a lot of original material to make it a true winner. I noticed Chamber theme appears more than once.

Karol

You're right, it's shit. One of the worst Potter's (which isn't saying much).

PoA is the best one I've seen. I still need to watch the last three.

Footlight Parade.

It's wonderful.