Random Thoughts by the forum members (formerly 20 random thoughts)

[baumer]

Come on guys, I know who Richard Bachman is.  lol.  I even like how King had a eulogy for Bachman at the beginning of the Dark Half saying he had passed away suddenly.  King is my favourite author.  

[The Stingray]

Dan Simmons > Stephen King.

[baumer]

Never read anything from him.

[IndustriousAngel]

Dan Simmons is a good writer but lately (say, since about 10 years at least) his books are getting more and more bloated. As happens with most writers, sadly, a bad habit triggered by getting paid per word

[Dementeleus]

Simmons is great. Two thumbs up.

[baumer]

It's been a while:

 

1) Stallone's had a nice career resurgence in the last 8 years and even though it pains me to say this, it's time for him to just quit.  I like most of his films but the audience just isn't there for him anymore.  I have no idea how well his films do on HV and such but besides the Expendables films, nothing has done well at the box office.  If Grudge Match fails to hit at least 50 mill domestic, imho, it's very sad.  Stallone is an icon and he is my favourite actor of all time but it pains me to see his films ignored the way are.  You've had a great career Sly, but unless you can get work as a supporting character, your time as a lead is done.

 

2) Wolf of Wall Street is the best film of the year.  That's all.

 

3) Adam Sandler can and has made some really good films.  I just watched The Wedding Singer and Just Go With It again.  They're both sweet and well written and benefits from two really good leads in the female category.  It's a shame GU2, TMB and JJ have been so terrible.  I hope his next film with Drew Barrymore gets back to his previous quality of film.

 

4) I watched Christmas Vacation again over the holidays, of course.  I also watched Home Alone and Home Alone 2.  John Hughes is sorely missed.  He wrote all three films and he's simply a genius.  He wrote the script for Home Alone in three days and he based CV on a lot of his memories as a kid.  I miss you John.  And I'm so glad to have your films available to me.  

 

5) Elle Fanning will win an Oscar one day.  Her performance in Super 8 is nothing short of astonishing.  She nailed every nuance about her character and watching it again for the first time in about a year, she almost brought me tears in a couple of spots.

 

6) I haven't been to the gym in two weeks and have eaten and drank way too much over the holidays.  My birthday is next Wednesday, so the gym will have to wait until Thursday lol.

 

7) Margot Robbie was in both About Time and Wolf of Wall Street.  She has my vote for most beautiful woman in the world and woman most likely to give you a hard on.  What a stunning woman.

 

8) I also watched Perfect Storm last night, Waiting the night before and Aliens in between.  Perfect Storm is blessed with such an incredible cast and one actor in it who really stands out is John C. Reilly.  He has a lot of subtleties in it that really enhanced the character.  Clooney and Wahlberg were good too but Reilly is more memorable.  Waiting is still one of the funniest films I've seen and Aliens can be watched once a month and not get boring.

 

9) Terminator is just brilliant.  That's all.

 

10) Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is criminally under rated.  That film shocked me and brought out a lot of emotions.

[Michael Gary Scott]

It's been a while:1) Stallone's had a nice career resurgence in the last 8 years and even though it pains me to say this, it's time for him to just quit. I like most of his films but the audience just isn't there for him anymore. I have no idea how well his films do on HV and such but besides the Expendables films, nothing has done well at the box office. If Grudge Match fails to hit at least 50 mill domestic, imho, it's very sad. Stallone is an icon and he is my favourite actor of all time but it pains me to see his films ignored the way are. You've had a great career Sly, but unless you can get work as a supporting character, your time as a lead is done.2) Wolf of Wall Street is the best film of the year. That's all.3) Adam Sandler can and has made some really good films. I just watched The Wedding Singer and Just Go With It again. They're both sweet and well written and benefits from two really good leads in the female category. It's a shame GU2, TMB and JJ have been so terrible. I hope his next film with Drew Barrymore gets back to his previous quality of film.4) I watched Christmas Vacation again over the holidays, of course. I also watched Home Alone and Home Alone 2. John Hughes is sorely missed. He wrote all three films and he's simply a genius. He wrote the script for Home Alone in three days and he based CV on a lot of his memories as a kid. I miss you John. And I'm so glad to have your films available to me. 5) Elle Fanning will win an Oscar one day. Her performance in Super 8 is nothing short of astonishing. She nailed every nuance about her character and watching it again for the first time in about a year, she almost brought me tears in a couple of spots.6) I haven't been to the gym in two weeks and have eaten and drank way too much over the holidays. My birthday is next Wednesday, so the gym will have to wait until Thursday lol.7) Margot Robbie was in both About Time and Wolf of Wall Street. She has my vote for most beautiful woman in the world and woman most likely to give you a hard on. What a stunning woman.8) I also watched Perfect Storm last night, Waiting the night before and Aliens in between. Perfect Storm is blessed with such an incredible cast and one actor in it who really stands out is John C. Reilly. He has a lot of subtleties in it that really enhanced the character. Clooney and Wahlberg were good too but Reilly is more memorable. Waiting is still one of the funniest films I've seen and Aliens can be watched once a month and not get boring.9) Terminator is just brilliant. That's all.10) Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is criminally under rated. That film shocked me and brought out a lot of emotions.

agree with points 5 and 10. Fanning has always been great in every movie shes in. Ive always been a Carell fan so I went to see seeking a friend and it was really good and I loved it

[SchumacherFTW]

I know what you mean about the gym Baumer. I feel that I've gone too long since I had a workout, think I last went a week ago.

[baumer]

I know what you mean about the gym Baumer. I feel that I've gone too long since I had a workout, think I last went a week ago.

 

I did a 21 day cleanse before Christmas so I felt good going into the holidays but once you start eating and drinking and eating and going to the movies and getting snacks, the gym is an after thought.  

[Ezen Baklattan]

Some new thoughts:

 

1.) I know it wouldn't work, like, at all, but I think it may be cool if Disney marketed Star Wars in the most minimal way possible, giving away almost nothing of the plot/characters, selling them movie on the Star Wars brand name alone. Giving the audiences a new surprise as soon as they walk into the theater must be something special, but I sadly doubt that people are going to embrace it. 

 

2.) Speaking of Star Wars, I actually think that it's going to be very cool to see different directors tackling the franchise, now that Gareth Edwards (whose direction no doubt saved Godzilla) is directing one of the spin-offs. This is such a big franchise, and it would be really cool to see so many different visions of where this franchise could go, both in terms of tone and story. That sounds really awesome, and it seems to be the general consensus, too.

 

3.) Next week's releases are giving me confusion. Maleficent is a tough film for me to put a finger on. Not necessarily box office, as I know it's probably going to be huge, but it's kind of like going to Taco Bell. I know it's probably going to be not very good, but the marketing has been surprisingly effective, and honestly, I'm starting to gain some interest in seeing this. The marketing has been really effective, and Jolie looks to be hamming it up gloriously. AMWTDITW, well I didn't like Ted nearly as much as most people, and I don't really like MacFarlene's brand of humor, but something about the marketing is getting me interested. It looks like a fun premise, and there's been some pretty funny stuff on there. Next weekend will destroy me.

 

4.) Is The Hundred Foot Journey even coming out this summer? We have no marketing for it at all, and MDA would have been the place to put a trailer. The weird thing is that Disney could have a Julie & Julia-style mini hit in August, especially with Spielberg/Winfrey backing it. That must suck for the few people who had it in their top 15 for Baumer's Summer game. EDIT: Turns out there was a trailer. It looks less appealing than Get on Up, but it could be a mini-hit.

 

5.) Chef looks really good, and I wonder if other generally big directors are going to want to step down and do a smaller, more personal project. We saw it last year with Pain & Gain, and this may become a new trend at the box office. When directors do less huge, intensive projects. I find that they have more freedom to tell stories closer to heart, and that's pretty damn cool.

 

6.) Did anyone else notice that Sony Pictures and Universal didn't release any film on March and April? It's particularly funny because Universal has been having a great January/February off of Ride Along and Lone Survivor, and Neighbors is now taking names, too. Also, Sony released FOUR films in February. That's just crazy.

 

7.) HBO is now on Amazon Prime. It's binging time.

Edited May 23, 2014 by Spaghetti

[Blankments]

Some new thoughts:

 

4.) Is The Hundred Foot Journey even coming out this summer? We have no marketing for it at all, and MDA would have been the place to put a trailer. The weird thing is that Disney could have a Julie & Julia-style mini hit in August, especially with Spielberg/Winfrey backing it. That must suck for the few people who had it in their top 15 for Baumer's Summer game.

 

 

... there was a trailer at MDA, and it looks like a truly awful movie

[Ezen Baklattan]

... there was a trailer at MDA, and it looks like a truly awful movie

 

I saw it, so cut that point out. This looks like the exact kind of movie my parents would watch on Netflix.

[Jack Nevada]

I've finally stopped buying DVD's. Fuck 'em.

[SchumacherFTW]

I've finally stopped buying DVD's. Fuck 'em.

Blu-ray all the way baby!

[baumer]

Wow.  I forgot about this thread.  

[baumer]

Time to get some stuff off my chest

 

1) This summer has been really bad so far.

 

2) Between Tammy and Godzilla, I'm wondering if executives actually read scripts before optioning them or, like they did in Tammy's case, they just agree to produce it based on past success.  McCarthy even got Will Ferrel and Adam McKay to EP this film.  These are two of the very worst films I've seen in my life time.

 

3) I'm personally happy for Transformer's success WW.  It was always going to decrease because it changed everything.  But it was entertaining and that's what I want when i watch a film.

 

4) Deliver is From Evil could have been so much better.

 

5) Fault in Our Stars should get Shaileen her first oscar nomination.  If they ignore her this year, it's a shame.

 

6) It's odd that I have enjoyed every superhero film this summer/spring.

 

7) I'm still pissed that TLAM2 abandoned everything that was good about the first and tried to make it all about Hart and the boys.

 

8) Still laughing about Paramount fudge.

 

9) I'm starting the bizzy diet routine again tomorrow.  3 weeks from now I should be down 20-25 pounds.

 

10) I'm loving my new job.  Very thankful to be working again.

[Dementeleus]

^^ Liked despite #2. 1. Due to work/family constraints, there are only a few times a year where I have the time to go see whatever I want, whenever I want. One of those times is in a couple weeks. Hopefully there are some entertaining movies in theaters. 2. I'll probably hit the indie movies first instead of the blockbusters. Still haven't seen CHEF yet. 3. I still can't get over that "What is Bayhem?" YouTube clip. The guy does such a great job breaking down how well Bay's visuals work and how he builds the visual layers in his frame, and at the same time he really nails one of the reasons why Bay is not particularly good at story or character moments, IMO. 4. There's an interesting review for TAMMY in the New Yorker. The critic, Richard Brody, does a better-than-average job explaining why the movie doesn't work (spoiler: lousy direction, for the most part). Comedy direction is more than just pointing the camera at the funny people. 5. Watching kids' movies constantly at home has given me new appreciation of Pixar (for the most part) and increased annoyance at Dreamworks/Fox/etc (for the most part).

[baumer]

Liked your post despite your opening statement.

[baumer]

Also considering taking away like because of stupid number 5 post.  

[Mulder]

Time to get some stuff off my chest

 

1) This summer has been really bad so far.

 

2) Between Tammy and Godzilla, I'm wondering if executives actually read scripts before optioning them or, like they did in Tammy's case, they just agree to produce it based on past success.  McCarthy even got Will Ferrel and Adam McKay to EP this film.  These are two of the very worst films I've seen in my life time.

 

3) I'm personally happy for Transformer's success WW.  It was always going to decrease because it changed everything.  But it was entertaining and that's what I want when i watch a film.

 

4) Deliver is From Evil could have been so much better.

 

5) Fault in Our Stars should get Shaileen her first oscar nomination.  If they ignore her this year, it's a shame.

 

6) It's odd that I have enjoyed every superhero film this summer/spring.

 

7) I'm still pissed that TLAM2 abandoned everything that was good about the first and tried to make it all about Hart and the boys.

 

8) Still laughing about Paramount fudge.

 

9) I'm starting the bizzy diet routine again tomorrow.  3 weeks from now I should be down 20-25 pounds.

 

10) I'm loving my new job.  Very thankful to be working again.

I'm liking for that #10. I'm happy for you Baumer.

 

1. I feel like people are just hating AoE because of RoTF and DoTM. It's very similar to Transformers 1 and I honestly liked quite a bit of the human story.

 

2. If a character isn't onscreen for a good hour or so, people will complain that they weren't in it enough. I saw this about Winter Soldier, Godzilla, and hell initial reactions to Days of Future Past said that Future-Magneto wasn't in it enough. 

 

3. A movie can be loved to the point where it's annoying. I'm feeling this way about the LEGO movie and to a much lesser extent Edge of Tomorrow.

 

4. Speaking of Edge of Tomorrow, I wonder if it's so loved because it didn't seem like anything special. If it was marketed better would people love it as much?

 

5. I really hope JJ Abrams stays on for SW8 and SW9. With Disney not confirming the Rian Johnson rumors weeks after it's safe to say that it's not happening/was a misunderstanding of some kind/is still in talks. But besides that I feel that JJ is one of the few people experienced enough to be able to pull off a SW film and I feel that many other people just aren't the right fit for SW.

 

6. I feel that people who love Gravity shouldn't be shitting on Transformers 1 and Avatar. All three are good films whose greatest downfalls are to an extent, their scripts. Gravity's script is paper thin IMHO.