What made you feel guilty? That you liked it, or that you weren't more blown away?

I get the first part of that take btw, and share it quite often.

+1 on expectations messing with a movie experience and enjoyment. I might have appreciated Citizen Kane if I hadn't constantly heard how it was the best film of all time before finally watching it. Huge letdown when I finally saw it.

These days, I generally discount or ignore reviews, especially from professional film critics, and rely mostly on trailers and on word of mouth from people who enjoy the kind of films I enjoy.

Anyone who reveals the existence of a major plot twist also immediately goes on the black list. When these people are rebuked, their general defense is that they didn't reveal the exact nature of the twist, just its existence. These people are tilting because they honestly believe that kind of reveal is OK and doesn't **** with the viewing experience.

The off-playing moments where the sort of off-playing, which is hard to spot. As proven by the players not knowing what they did wrong. You have to hear everything perfect to spot the difference. So it basically only annoys the Simmons character.

What's this from?

ya for me the plot was almost inconsequential.
everything else including the look, feel, sound writing, directing, editing, acting etc were absolutely prefect imo.

ya in my big write up I said I thought not only was it the best acting performance of the year (tom hardy was 2nd for me) but it was the best portrayal of a sociopath ever (including hannibal lector n patrick bateman).

total joke he wasn't nominated for best actor, and no best original screenplay nom was also a joke.

but whatever, award shows are terrible and the academy are a bunch of ******s.

The Descent 2 on Syfy last night. I didn't even know about this. The Descent was really awesome but I wasn't expecting much for a sequel. It certainly wasn't as good as the first but had some great scenes. Those claustrophobic scenes where they can barely move in the cave just creep me out. Some great fights with the creatures. If you liked the first I think you'll like this one but just realize it is a sequel and isn't quite as good.

Hardcore (1979)

Hardcore is a pretty cool movie, Paul Schrader.

that's not exactly what they said... they said that they were put off by the fact that the decker character really comes off looking like an insensitive arsehole and that the nexus units are the sympathetic victims... this confused a lot of people at the time because the viewing audience had not seen that level of character building and sympathy towards what was a valiance protagonist. In addition to the fact that Harrison Ford was riding a crest of achievements which included American Graffiti, two Star Wars movies, Apocalypse Now and Raiders of the Lost Ark. I think seeing him as such a limp character made people go "huh?".

Time has changed things and peoples minds have opened up to the concepts put fourth in Blade Runner beyond the visual beauty, which is why it has such legendary status and such long legs.

sure the film looks dated, sure some of the acting is a little hokie, but overall the movie remains resolute in its "classic" status regardless of any racist or prejudicial overtones it may carry.

"Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"

Blade Runner does not look dated.

Dated is a bad word... it appearance is less sophisticated as the modern influenced movies such as total recall etc which benefit highly from technical advances in set design and special effects.

The overall design is ceratinly NOT dated, just some elements within that were originally put forth more as a visual fabric enhancement as opposed to an attempt to construct a complete functioning world with reasoning behind those same elements.

No disparage here... I love BR

Hmmm....I don't really agree. I think the set design is perfect. Total Recall seems dated and very "80s" to me. But of course, I have a blind spot for the movie.

Any Verhoeven movie looks super dated. But its in a good way imo.

I love the look of those movies. Blade runner is way less dated looking in comparison.

I agree...

Lol... the NEW total recall movie, not arnolds version. It was pretty much a blade runner future world stylistic rip off.

For what its worth, the overall set design is not the issue for me in determinant dating, it's the detail things that make something look dated. In these modern times film makers are doing a much job in making "worlds" believable by controlling the minutiae so they contribute to believability instead of being added just for decorations sake.

blasphemy

Is it March already? Must be if we're discussing whether of not Blade Runner is GOAT.

Luckily due to this frequently coming up I've designed a test, the Bluegrass-Player Good Taste Test. I propose that thread runners give this test to suspected chat threaders with inferior taste, if that threader is found to be a drone with inferior taste he is forced into doing dangerous and menial work posting in OOT.

Here are the test questions:

1. It's your birthday, someone gives you a copy of Bladerunner Ultimate Collector's Edition, how do you react?

2. You've got a little boy, he shows you his Transformers collection, he says his idol is Michael Bay, what do you do?

3. You are watching television, suddenly you realize The Walking Dead is on, what do you do?

4. You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of a sudden you look down, and you see a threader, he or she is crawling toward you. You ask if he or she likes Blade Runner, he or she says "no." He or she begs you for water, of which you have plenty. But you’re not helping. Why is that?

5. Describe in single words, why Blade Runner is goat.

6. Watch this not safe for work video:



Now pretend the tattoo says "Blade Runner sux" Do you react the same way as the man or differently?

Ha, that's nice. I lover Blade Runner, but sometimes I think I might be a replicant.

Oh and while I was shoveling dirt on Whiplash awhile back, I forgot to mention that the movie is so eager to force-feed us this morally toxic and incredibly specious "message", it needs to severely misrepresent the story about Charlie Parker.

Jo Jones threw a cymbal at Parker's *feet* when he embarrassed himself on stage, not his head as the movie purports a couple times. Fairly big difference considering J.K. Simmons has no problem with physical abuse if it means there's a .001% chance that he might ignite some inner virtuoso that otherwise wouldn't come out. Jesus, talk about some disingenuous bull****.

answers in bold:

Of course.

The Fault In Our Stars - Not as bad as I was expecting, but I am clearly not the target audience for this movie. At least it had Willem Dafoe

John Wick - Speaking of Willem Dafoe, he has a small role in this one as well. I agree with most of the earlier reviews in this thread for John Wick. Fun ride. Not sure I've seen a movie with more point blank gunshots than this one.



Dominic - you were autoincluded into this year's charity rOOTlette, not sure if you saw the PM or not. Swing by the thread and pick a number and a charity!

the only thing that diminishes my enjoyment of blade runner is how amazing do androids dream of electric sheep is.

but it's still awesome obv.

Have you checked out The Man in the High Castle? They made a pilot episode for a potential series, but I have yet to see it...

Wait, Gyllenhaal wasn't even nominated for best actor? I find that absurd if true.

I haven't paid attention to the Oscars since Forrest Gump beat Pulp Fiction and Shawshank.

I think this is the most literal interpretation of the message. For me Whiplash was about the life of the artist — the ambition for greatness, for immortality through art, and the struggle between their art and everyday life. The last part is something that speaks to me, as I know many professional artists who constantly battle with the balance between their inner (artistic) life and outer (ordinary) life. Simple things like paying the bills, going grocery shopping, paying attention to your partner/friends/family constantly get in the way of their work. Guilt sets in when they feel they neglect their art for trivial things like a personal life. When the scale tips, they begin to resent everything and everyone that does not directly help that progress their art. Their inner Fletcher takes over.

In that sense, Fletcher the conductor can be seen as more metaphorical — a physical manifestation of that inner voice that drives every artist: You’re not working hard enough. You’re not talented enough. You’re not strong enough. Not good enough, not good enough, not good enough — not quite my tempo. This voice is powerful, intoxicating and relentless. It will never quit. It haunts you. This is the voice that pushes you to do better. That pushes you to be your best self. That pushes you to the highest highs, and the lowest lows.

The life of the artist is an emotional roller coaster that can lead to depression, low self-esteem, alienation and even suicide. But when you finally satisfy that inner voice — when you finally make him smile — it is the best feeling in the world.

Wether it’s worth everything else that comes with it is up to you.