 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
Matrix, MI 2 etc... (Actually am trying to figure out the make up of this board - how diverse etc. because that has a big part in the opinions and how seriously I should take it.....or to put it another way, I, for example, love art movies but I also like crazy action movies like Arnold Schwarznegger types just as I love haute cuisine at Michelin three star restaurants in Europe as well as Kaiseki meals in Japan or food cooked in a fire in Botswana or even rally driving in Dakar or glitzy Monaco grand prix stuff; reading philosophy or physics or just trashy corporate reports and even X-Men)Anyway, I enjoy lots of movies very frequently bashed up here for lack of artistry etc. (people actually post about feeling guilty watching some such movies - I watch whatever I enjoy so I may be a nut..well, whatever).....I dont mean to criticise anyone. I'll also admit that sometimes I find myself gravitating to the foreign movie aisle since there are some good movies there - more because only the good make it here maybe...I dont know - not that all foreign movies are good.
Anyway, I liked Matrix a lot and thought it was a great concept (loved it notwithstanding its many faults and notwithstanding Keanu), Also loved Ronin, despite its faults too
etc.The funny thing is I liked MI2 too!!!! The trick to liking it for me was that I went in expecting it to be a sequel of MI1 and if I continued to evaluate the movie on that basis (little more serious) I would have hated it. But I quickly viewed it as a movie about fast cars, fun scenes and some entertaining gadgetry (way too fake when compared to even MI1 which was atleast a bit more subtle). I just used a different part of my brain - the one that likes crazy action.
so, my question is.... do most of you worry about whether the actors act well or just allow yourself to enjoy it and then decide whether you enjoyed it for hte acting or something else story etc. Of course it is also fair to say at least for some people that bad acting can ruin the best story and vice versa too for me at least.
Also, for movies like MI2, has anyone evaluated it WITHOUT comparing it to the prequel - not compare as much as even putting it in the same genre.
Okay, just wanted some feedback on these two points so I have a better idea on how I should act on recommendations, reviews, etc. Thanks for any constructive feedback and even the flames too. Because that too will tell me something.
Cheers
Follow Ups:
Hi, Ran
The best thing to me is that when watching these
I enjoy a rare pleasure of feeling my ABSOLUTE
intellectual superiority. It's oh soooooo gooooood
to feel like I'm a mix of Einstein and Eisenstein!The only problem is when such a movie bores me,
like, say, Matrix did. Well, then it's just boring and
even that superiority feeling doesn't help.
regards, gnat
When viewing a movie, I decide upon completion what was the story's strength? Did the movie take advantage of it's strength?Action films must allow you suspend your disbelief. A love story must captivate your heart. A drama requires compelling acting. Otherwise, it falls flat.
Sometimes it's critical scenes that loose it's objective. For instance, in "Star Wars Ep.I", the jewel of the movie was the Pod race. But with all the attention to CGI detail, the dirctor had forgotten to include suspense. Good old tangent-itis.
"Matrix" never forgot the story with all the CGI & fashion details. That's what made it a great movie IMHO. The details just favored the movie with some individual panache. Even though others tried these same ingredients, this recipe was perfect for the style of story.
Do these have their faults? Damn straight! But, they're still enjoyable. I pick on "Star Trek 4" a lot but it was highly enjoyable. Why? Because the story was maintained through all the dumb errors. This assisted in allowing the audience to be reabsorbed after a particularly stupid incident. This is why I liked "The Patriot" too.
I liked "X-Men" too. Although, it was left open-ended. I felt like it was intermission upon conclusion, or like I need to return next week for the next episode. This was disturbing. But considering it was the end of the movie, it doesn't take away from the fact it was highly enjoyable upto that.
I think you got more answers in your post that questions. Perhaps the only remainig question is on how you handle multiple opinions and reviews. I guess same way you handle everything else in your life. You look, you listen, you read and you watch. When keeping your eyes and ears open you will quickly develop feel for whose opinion makes sense to YOU and whose doesn't. We all have such people that we respect in every field. If some reviewer's opinion resonates in you - you found your guy. It is fine to change the favorite reviewers like gloves - any time you feel like.A little bit on a related subject - what makes a movie good vs. bad. It is not its high class unbringing or aspirations - it is its uniqueness, freshness, intellect and wit. Things like the Dirty Harry movies, Ronin, Death Wish (the original one), some of Arnold's and Sly's films and many others - we are fortunate to have them.
I movie that is honest and upretentious is going to stay with us, a phony junk will soon be forgotten.
Some people are lucky to get formal education in movies, most of us learn about this form of art the way we learn about music - by wanting to know more.
I can watch foreign, classics or current action trash - you just have to be in the right frame of mind and not be convinced that if it isnt foreign its going to rot your mind. X Men two weeks ago - Hollow Man this weekend!And I thought MI2 was actually pretty decent in a Woo / stylized action sort of way...and the Matrix too...
joe
Well, I think you should take people's expressed opinions at face value -- just like an equipment review. If someone says "I like it. It was great!" that's an opinion, but doesn't tell you much. If someone supplies some context for the opinion, then you have a better idea of how seriously to consider it.Now to your movies--
I never saw MI 1, but I saw MI 2. I like "action" films, and I still watch the old Bond films (the ones with Connery). However, I do not expect an action film to be so impossible as to be a cartoon. Then I just start laughing -- which is what some of the audience (including me) did where I watched MI2. I thought MI2 crossed over into the ridiculous, so I couldn't get into it. Also, I confess, I have real trouble seeing Tom Cruise as an action star. He simply lacks physical presence and he's too pretty. I felt that way about Top Gun; and the fact that Cruise is now older doesn't really help. An example of a recent action film that I liked was the latest Bond flick -- the world is not enough. Finally, a decent Bond film after years of fits and starts! I had my doubts about Pierce Brosnan; he has the same "handicaps" as Cruise (looks and size). But I thought he did well in this one. Connery is still the benchmark in the character -- size matters.
Matrix I enjoyed; and Keanu Reeves didn't bother me. It's a sci-fi, so my expectations are different. In a sci-fi, the impossible is possible; but the film has to set new rules about what is possible and stick by them. I thought Matrix did that pretty well, althogh not as well as the two Terminator movies -- Arnold Schwarznegger's best role by far -- playing a robot.
So there you have it -- no flames.
RBB --
"Still getting the wax out of my ears."
> > Connery is still the benchmark in the character -- size matters. < <Funny you should mention this. My fiance is a big Brosnan fan but didn't like him in the first or second of his Bond films: too slight of build to be Bond. With the last one, however, she thought Brosnan had achieved a physical maturity ("beefiness") to match the role.
Take the opinions for what they are worth. Some people here like movies, some people like to trash anything you have ever heard of, some people think anything made in Hollywood has got to be junk and some people think Kubrick is God and everything he ever made is high art and worthy of praise (including that Clockwork Orange piece of crap). Pretty typical board. Always more entertaining than the audio counterparts. Some of the pretentious posturing makes for hilarious reading.
Hi Ran,
Actually i'm like you in alot of ways. I to enjoy action movies but I watch them to watch the action not to break apart the actors ability to act. I guess it's sort of like listening to the equipment instead of the music. In the end, I always watch or listen to what ever i'm in the mood for, no matter what other people think of them.MiKe
MiKe
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
