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1917... and the power of NOT doing certain things
Excuse a few impressions after having watched 1917 enough times to be able to switch off (most) emotions and finally to be able to think about it. On a personal note, it is the first time that I watched a war movie several times over a few days...Aside from all the coverage about the truly astonishing camerawork and overall concept, or the absolutely vast scale of the set design, rehearsals, lighting and its simulations, continuity challenges etc. etc. ... there are a number of things that IMHO make 1917 truly stand out.It is what it does NOT do, and it doesn't do those things in such subdued manner that we might take it all for granted - until we realize: hang on, this had to be actually made into a film, it had to work as a film.Character development? Impossible for vast majority of characters we encounter. We have a few seconds, sometimes a few minutes with them - and they are then gone forever. This, in itself, has a heck of an emotional charge. We ascertain as much as we can about them based on maybe a few or just one sentences. The script is remarkable how much it says about someone and/or something in so few fleeting words. Even within those few seconds or words, it manages to depict characters ranging from abhorrent selfishness to thinly veiled racism to utter despair to heartbreaking empathy and selflessness.There is no external information fed into the personal Universe of the two soldiers we follow. No aerial shots, nothing that gives any insight into their environment beyond what they/we can see. It is claustrophobic in that sense, despite the fact that it mostly occurs in vast, harrowing, otherworldly spaces instead of physically closed spaces.There is no "look how amazing we are" moment where they would rub in our face their truly astonishing technical achievements. Even the impossible-looking camera handling is there to always be in service of the story, instead of doing crazy trickery just to show off. Even when the perhaps most dramatic camera movements are employed during the night-time sequence, it all remains absolutely in the service of the story. In many ways, this actually makes some viewers take things for granted because things are kept so natural - until the coin drops that, hang on, this had to be filmed by people and gizmos holding a camera...There is no wall-to-wall, typical, war movie soundtrack stuff. There is no "you must cry, now, because this is, right now, emotional" musical moment. When it has to achieve that, it does it with so achingly economical means that one has to be a sociopath not to react to it emotionally. Thomas Newman is a veritable genius, as usual, and in this film, too, he can go from a few faint sound effects of almost-silence to heart achingly simple but effective few piano notes to full-blown towering sound. When latter happens, and only perhaps once in the entire film, and it is suitably heroic, it is like all the tensions built up over almost two hours break down all the walls - and we have an astonishing coupling of visuals with sky-shattering music.Well, yes, almost no CGI. The largest lighting rig Deakins ever devised was replaced by something else via digital wizardry, but apart from that (and the blending of the different scenes into a single shot-looking journey), there is no 'obvious' trickery employed.The scenes shot in daylight are not over-processed in post-production for extra effect. Natural light looks like natural light, and for continuity people this had to be a nightmare. Even with the overcast murky scenes, we take for granted just how much lighting conditions change - ask any photographer... let alone film maker. Considering how many takes they had to often do, even with all the rehearsals, it's astonishing how seamlessly it is all combined.It does NOT show the horror of that war in ways that other war movies do it. The horror does not come from big battle scenes with naturalistic and anatomically accurate portrayals of how that war minces down human bodies. This is no Saving Private Ryan opening scene or anything 'traditional' we may think of instantly. The only thing that comes close to some scenes in 1917 are some similarly subdued and restrained, but all the more effective, sequences in The Killing Fields by Roland Joffe, where the main character escapes the camp and crawls through the horrific wasteland. In this film, everything we know about that war comes often from the tiny details (a hand in the mud as the camera glides over the rim of the crater), or from the overall feel of a vast landscape - there is no "look there!!" moment, the camera lets us pick out the horrific details.Ah well. I'd better stop :)... excuse the rant, but still just astonished by this thing. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2u68rTq
Middle Earth 4K Boxset reported to be released for October 2020
The six Middle Earth films are reportedly being worked on in New Zealand for a 4K boxset release, currently slated for October 2020.Rumours of a 2020 4K release of Sir Peter Jackson's six Middle Earth features started to circulate around January.1 Now, The Digital Bits have confirmed that the rigorous work is being performed on the films in New Zealand (where they were produced)2 and 4K filme (ger) confirmed that a six-film UHD boxset is now supposedly slated for an October 2020 release,3 a full twenty-five years after Jackson first concieved of making the series.4 A boxset was previously released for BluRay, but without the approval of Jackson.5No information exists as to the nature of the digital masters used for this release: whether they are 2K upscales or not, and what the aspect ratio and frame rate for The Hobbit entries will be: the Digital IMAX versions of those films were composed for 2:1 and shown in 48 frames per-second in 3D.Its also unclear what version of the film is worked on: the films have a theatrical cut, an extended cut for TV, and - by the director's own admission - could stand to have a third, revised cut, mainly to iron-out continuity issues.6Presumably, however, both the theatrical and extended cuts will be made available in widescreen UHD. The reported "slow but steady pace" of the work (which would explain what Peter Jackson has been so quietly up to this last year or so) is reassuring as to the quality of the masters, upscaled or not.The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003) was shot back-to-back on fine-grain Super-35mm film, while The Hobbit prequel trilogy (2012-2015) was largely shot on 5K Digital RED EPIC cameras. All six films were produced, co-written and directed by Sir Peter Jackson and shot by the late Andrew Lesnie: the only film series of this scope to be helmed entirely by one filmmaker and one core creative team throughout.7The timing of the release is no doubt meant to coincide with Amazon's upcoming TV series, a prequel from the same cinematic universe, set in the period which precedes the opening prologue of The Fellowship of the Ring.8 A sort-of spin-off film, Tolkien, was released in 2019 and centered around the life of the source material's author, Professor JRR Tolkien. Universal are reportedly making an amusement ride based on the films, as well.The series, distributed by Warner Brothers, won eighteen Oscars out of 38 nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing and a Special Achievement Oscar - making it the most accoladed film series in history.9___________________1 https://ift.tt/31dDb0V https://ift.tt/2RJ02OY https://ift.tt/2tYcXDK Jackson's original pitch, then to Miramax, was for a single trilogy: one film based on The Hobbit and two based on The Lord of the Rings. This followed a single animated feature by Ralph Bakshi and several aborted attempts by such filmmakers as Forrest Ackerman, William Synder, Sir David Lean, Stanley Kubrick and John Boorman.5 The "Middle-earth Limited Collector’s Edition" was notoriously overpriced. Jackson wanted to produce a new documentary with Michael Pellerin, featuring HD excerpts of outtakes and bloopers, but this required rescanning the negative by Warners, which they declined. https://ift.tt/2Ue45o1 In the commentary to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Jackson states: "We're a few years away from a *Lord of the Rings-*boxset. Hopefully we'd be able to package The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit together in, like, an ultimate set and who knows what extra things we'll be able to squeeze into that! [...] If we did an ultimate *Lord of the Rings-*boxset you would do [...a revised version] for continuity's sake. [...] If we did it I'd still want the old version to be available and not be discarted." In the 2014 Comic-Con panel, Jackson expressed interest in having the original camera negative of The Lord of the Rings rescanned ahead of any potential new release.7 The six extended cuts - curated for TV and widely considered the superior versions of the films - form a 21-hour cycle, equivalent to the nine-film long Skywalker Saga and eight-film strong Harry Potter series. Unlike those series, Jackson was the director throughout, with him, Philippa Boyens and Dame Frances Walsh being the principal writers of all the films, and him and Walsh producing. The Cinematographer, Composer, First Assistant Director, Script Supervisor, Key Grip and Special Effects manager were the same throughout. The heads of the other production departments on The Hobbit were mostly high-ranking veterans of their respective departments in The Lord of the Rings.8 The show's lead conceptual artist, John Howe, a veteran of the Jackson films, confirmed on two ocassions that the series will be in the "same universe" as the films. A tie-in map, in the style of the films, sets the series during the early-to-mid Second Age. This period is glimpsed in the opening two minutes of the prologue to The Fellowship of the Ring - showing the forging of the Rings of Power, Sauron's rise to power and war with the Elves, and alluding to the Rise and Fall of the kingdom of Numenor - threads which will presumably form the focus of the show. Jackson was rumoured to help in going over the scripts. https://ift.tt/2GGLXvd The ultimate film of the series, The Return of the Kin, won a record eleven awards in a clean sweep, including Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay: one of few commercial genre pictures to have done so. The number of nominations puts the winning ratio of the series 47%. By comparison, The Godfather trilogy won 9 out of 29 nominations, with one revoked nomination (31% winning ratio) and one award refused by its recipient, lead actor Marlon Brando.The winning ratios at the Golden Globes (21% for The Godfather) and BAFTAS (23%) also favour the Middle Earth series, at 40% and 36%, respectivelly. Both series garnered additional awards, but those are more difficult to bring into account, given how many new award ceremonies sprouted in the time between the making of the two series. The Godfather series was also nominated for - and won - two Golden Raspberry Awards (as did the Star Wars series), a dubious honour the Middle Earth films have not been subjected to. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2GG0oiX
Tokyo Godfathers [Official Subtitled Trailer, GKIDS] - Coming Soon
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Official Discussion Megathread (Gretel & Hansel, The Last Full Measure, The Rhythm Section)
Gretel & HanselThe Last Full MeasureThe Rhythm Sectionall other official discussions are on /r/discussionarchive via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2OtxTtl
I can't believe how bad the IMDB redesign is.
I've been an IMDB user since the late 90s, seen the site go through many changes over time, but this weeks redesign is atrocious.Endless huge rows of useless suggestions like 'fan favorites' - I don't know what that even means. I go to the site daily for the edited movie and TV news, both sections are completely hidden now, and I don't know why.Maybe the site is trying to change into something different? I would like movie and tv data driven tools in a more user friendly UI than the site currently offers, but the redesign mostly seems to make getting the same data much harder to navigate to.Reddit, I'm sad. via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2RII9j2
Seventh Annual Oscar Bingo Submission Thread!
Sixth annual Oscar Bingo. Fuck I'm old edition.Hey everyone. Excited for the Oscars? Well so are we! So much, in fact, that several years ago we thought of a completely ridiculous and inane activity for all of us to take part in on the big night. We call it Oscar Bingo, because that's exactly what it is. It's been a great success every year, everyone has lots of fun, and it doesn't really cost us much money so we're doing it again!Last year's submission threadLast year's card pickup threadLast year's game threadHere's how it works!Submit ideas for things that might happen during the Oscars. Oscars only, no preshow. Example: "Someone mispronounces Saoirse Ronan" or "Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't laugh at a joke made about him." Keep it light and let's keep things like "Joker wins Best Picture" off the gamecards, it limits possibilities.The mods reserve the right to execute editorial control over the final bingo squares. Our intent is to make the game more playable based on previous year's experience.Once we have collected submissions for a couple of days, we will un-sticky the thread and start to make game cards with your suggestions. Our friends over at print-bingo.com will again be doing some specialty work with us for this. Please only take what you need so everyone can play!We will post a gamecard pickup thread the day before the Oscars. All you will have to do is follow the link in the thread, do the captcha, and save the PDF file with your card on it.We'll post the game thread Oscar Sunday. The point of the Game Thread is to discuss game related things and for me to make final decisions on the more open to interpretation squares. It will be stickied and there will be prizes for winners.Here is a list of presenters:Zazie BeetzTimothée ChalametWill FerrellGal GadotMindy KalingJulia Louis-DreyfusLin-Manuel MirandaAnthony RamosMark RuffaloKelly Marie TranKristen WiigMahershala AliOlivia ColmanRegina KingRami MalekPerformers:Elton JohnIdina MenzelChrissy MetzAlso fair to assume anyone in the main cast and directors of Best Picture nominated films will be in attendance.Here's some "official" rules:Submissions must be 80 characters or less. They gotta fit in them bingo squares!As mentioned, don't submit anything impossible or too ridiculous. Hyperbole is no one's friend in bingo.We will be taking the top submissions, so be sure to vote on your favorites! The thread will be randomized so take a moment to scroll and find your favorites!Try not to get too specific. The fun of Bingo is that a square could happen any moment. Predicting winners or getting too specific limits the fun!You can submit about anything that might happen at the Oscars, but not the preshow. Nobody wants the game to be over before it begins!Have fun!SUBMIT YOUR OSCAR SQUARE ENTRIES BELOW80 characters or less and don't forget to vote! via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2O7Hndt
George Lucas wanted David Lynch (Blue Velvet; Mullholand Drive) to direct Return of the Jedi.
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Children of Men was great then and possibly better now
I saw Children of Men in theaters in early 2007 only because my dad heard it was good and he wanted to see it. Even as a naive student, I knew it was a great movie and have since forced a number of people to watch it. The filming style is unlike most films, with many scenes filmed from one camera in a single take rather than breaking the scene up to film with multiple angles. There's likely terms to better describe this, but I don't know them. One thing out of place and they have to start the entire scene over! I watch it now every year or two and the subject matter is just as compelling. Maybe I'll read the book someday.Edit: I didn't know this movie is somewhat of a cliche here in this sub, so mea culpa if I came across disingenuous. Never meant to poke the bear, I'd just found my DVD copy and figured this post would get lost in the ether here. You don't need to like the movie, but I do, and that's all good :) via /r/movies https://ift.tt/37G5Cah
