The Official Movie Thread

[NinjaGeek]

Well I think it depends on the movie and it's purpose. The debate on long takes vs. cuts goes way back to silent era films. Children of Men certainly utilized long takes to good effect, but I wouldn't say that every film should use them.

 

[Zephyrus]

Do you do anything besides watch movies, NinjaGeek?

 

[NinjaGeek]

I'm a film major, so yes, I watch lots and lots of movies.

 

[Zephyrus]

Fair enough.

 

[cookiecutter]

The long takes in Children of Men were really cool.

 

[Einherjar86]

Absolutely. I love long continuous shots of people in action sequences. The camera shots where they follow Cleo while shit's exploding around him are awesome. Children of Men is a great film, I think.

 

[no country for old wainds]

i like aspects of it, full of clichés and crappy dialogue/acting though

 

[waif]

Long takes are definitely best in action scenes. Cuts in action scenes can easily make it really confusing.

 

[NinjaGeek]

Not if it's filmed and edited well.

 

[unknown]

Anyone here a fan of stop motion animation? I just stumbled upon some of the works of Wladyslaw Starewicz, and was completely blown away. He's an old stop motion animator from the silent movie era. His stuff literally shits on most of the stuff done today, really amazing stuff. I just ordered a collection of his shorts.

heck yeah! I love Jan Svankmajer and Brothers Quay...I'll definitely check out Starewicz

 

[Thoth-Amon]

Fair enough.

 

[cookiecutter]

i like aspects of it, full of clichés and crappy dialogue/acting though

I agree with this

 

[rms]

Seemed like it ended short too

 

[NinjaGeek]

Rarely do I see a movie that has an actual mind expanding message behind it. I'm used to the clichés.

 

[waif]

Not if it's filmed and edited well.

I've seen a ton of movies - hollywood movies with good directors - that contained action scenes that were just blurry mindfucks.

So I finished watching Children of Men today. I really enjoyed it, though I thought they could have elaborated on some aspects of the society portrayed in the movie.

Yeah, I thought they could have gone further with it, but that as it was it was still really good. Although the ending was a bit weak.

 

[NinjaGeek]

I've seen a ton of movies - hollywood movies with good directors - that contained action scenes that were just blurry mindfucks.

Thats just cause of some new trend in hollywood, that action sequences should be hectic and confusing. I think the idea is to try to make you feel like you're there, since if you were in a spot where giant robots were battling or whatever, it would probably be extremely chaotic and you wouldn't know exactly what was going on. However in contrast there are plenty of other hollywood movies where each cool explosion or stunt is shown in detailed slow motion 5 times over from different angles. It's really completely up to the editor and cinematographer how clear and easy to follow they want the scene to be, and has nothing to do with how often they cut.

 

[unknown]

So I finished watching Children of Men today. I really enjoyed it, though I thought they could have elaborated on some aspects of the society portrayed in the movie.

where the fuck have you been?

 

[Zephyrus]

Reality.

 

[unknown]

pfft. reality's overrated

 

[Einherjar86]

Rarely do I see a movie that has an actual mind expanding message behind it. I'm used to the clichés.

If there's one director who doesn't succumb to cliches, I must say I think it's David Fincher (except for Panic Room). I think he's an incredible director, and the projects he takes on are amazing.

And cliches aren't always bad. Two of my favorite directors are Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg. Cliches galore; but still amazing films (usually).