Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35171 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20839 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7430 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3981 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3507 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2080 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2587 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2258 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2500 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3022 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1973 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3698 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2626 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2463 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2291 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2510 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Use the stickied threads for short updates.

Please consider adding your quick impressions and your rating to the game entry in our Board Game Directory after you post your thoughts so others can find them!

Please start new threads in the appropriate category for mini-session reports, discussions of specific games or other discussion starting posts.

What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

More
09 Apr 2018 15:36 #267162 by ChristopherMD

Black Barney wrote: And that "many Bothan spies lost their lives...". So that worked for me.


Bothan's stole the second Death Star plans.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Black Barney

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
09 Apr 2018 15:38 #267163 by Michael Barnes
Well I certainly caught up on movies, what with being on a plane for about 18 hours over the past week.

- Three Billboards was really quite good, very well-written and superbly acted. I didn't really think I wanted to watch it, but I found it pretty compelling once it got started. I think Woody Harrelson is not appreciated enough, every time he is in something he winds up being a highlight. Frances McDormand was the right choice for Best Actress- a very powerful, complex portrayal.

- Phantom Thread was exquisite. It's a fussy, difficult, and sometimes bone-dry movie that plays very much like a Kubrick film. DDL's performance is masterful and restrained, and in a way it all comes across like a super stuffy, stiff English take on the manic pixie dream girl romance. Except that it involves dressmaking, interrupted breakfasts, and poison. It's definitely not a movie for everyone, and it is not as good as There Will Be Blood but I did like it better than The Master and/or Inherent Vice.

- Murder on the Orient Express was fun- a very old fashioned whodunit that feels completely out of step with trend. It's just classic Agatha Christie stuff with an all-star cast. It's not a great movie, and Branagh mugs it up a bit too much as Poirot, but it was entertaining. It made me feel old though, as if I might suddenly start watching Father Dowling Mysteries or something next.

- Dunkirk was the big surprise. I didn't really want to see it all that much, but it was there so I figured I'd check it out. It was riveting. It's such a tightly constructed, tightly wound movie with virtually zero exposition or narrative fat. The editing was just incredible, and Zimmer's score just tick-tick-ticks away through the whole thing. It sounds almost like Vangelis meets Krautrock. It's only 1:45 long, but it works almost like the three-level conflict at the end of a Star Wars movie...except for the full length of the film. A beautifully made, expertly crafted clockwork piece. And you BARELY see "the enemy" in it at all, which I thought was really interesting.

- Once I got onto the Wi-Fi at the AirBNB, I realized that I could get on Netflix and watch Annihilation. I wound up watching it twice. I absolutely loved it- it's smart, weird science fiction that does the right thing by combining the human story with a vast, expansive window into the unknown. It's ambiguous and the right things are left unexplained. It's scary and unsettling. The influence of Tarkovsky's Stalker is pretty clear. I think it's a far better film than Ex Machina. It's no wonder that the studio didn't really know what to do with it. I think this one will have a long tail once it gets to Netflix and people start seeing it. Doubt they will make the other books into films though.

- I started watching The Shape of Water, but I fell asleep because I am still 6 hours behind EST. I'm going to pick it up again tonight...not sure what to make of it yet, but it is more whimsical than I expected. Definitely a Del Toro film through and through.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Black Barney, Nodens

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
09 Apr 2018 15:44 #267164 by Black Barney
make sure to pump up the volume for Shape of Water, the score is the nuts from what I hear and is very important. If you appreciated Zimmer's score in Dunkirk, I'm interested in your take on that one.

3 Billboards - can you imagine McDormand trying to figure out that character? What a tough role to play. "ok... so she lost her daughter in this terrible way. So she's basically dead inside... and full of anger... and no fear anymore for anything...."

I honestly think it's a violation of many things to watch Dunkirk on an airplane screen, and I hope you get to see it on a very large screen at some point because those initial scenes on the beach with no enemy in sight... you just FEEL the lack of hope and sense of dread.

glad you got to watch all that stuff.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gregarius

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
09 Apr 2018 15:45 #267165 by Cranberries

Michael Barnes wrote:
- Dunkirk was the big surprise. I didn't really want to see it all that much, but it was there so I figured I'd check it out. It was riveting. It's such a tightly constructed, tightly wound movie with virtually zero exposition or narrative fat. The editing was just incredible, and Zimmer's score just tick-tick-ticks away through the whole thing. It sounds almost like Vangelis meets Krautrock. It's only 1:45 long, but it works almost like the three-level conflict at the end of a Star Wars movie...except for the full length of the film. A beautifully made, expertly crafted clockwork piece. And you BARELY see "the enemy" in it at all, which I thought was really interesting.


I made the family watch this with me in IMAX. It made up for all of my past attempts at making the wrong people watch the wrong movies.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Black Barney, Gregarius

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
09 Apr 2018 16:04 #267167 by Gregarius

Michael Barnes wrote: - Dunkirk was the big surprise. I didn't really want to see it all that much, but it was there so I figured I'd check it out. It was riveting. It's such a tightly constructed, tightly wound movie with virtually zero exposition or narrative fat. The editing was just incredible, and Zimmer's score just tick-tick-ticks away through the whole thing. It sounds almost like Vangelis meets Krautrock. It's only 1:45 long, but it works almost like the three-level conflict at the end of a Star Wars movie...except for the full length of the film. A beautifully made, expertly crafted clockwork piece. And you BARELY see "the enemy" in it at all, which I thought was really interesting.

- Once I got onto the Wi-Fi at the AirBNB, I realized that I could get on Netflix and watch Annihilation. I wound up watching it twice. I absolutely loved it- it's smart, weird science fiction that does the right thing by combining the human story with a vast, expansive window into the unknown. It's ambiguous and the right things are left unexplained. It's scary and unsettling. The influence of Tarkovsky's Stalker is pretty clear. I think it's a far better film than Ex Machina. It's no wonder that the studio didn't really know what to do with it. I think this one will have a long tail once it gets to Netflix and people start seeing it. Doubt they will make the other books into films though.

I loved Dunkirk, and everything you say is right on the money.
I also loved Annihilation, and I've been dying to have someone to talk about it with. However, one of my oldest and closest friends saw it and hated it. He actually said there were "zero interesting ideas worth talking about" in it, which astounded me. Had it been anyone else, I would have thought he was just baiting me. Anyway, I'm going to try to see it again in the theater while I can.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
09 Apr 2018 17:18 - 09 Apr 2018 17:19 #267172 by Michael Barnes
Zero interesting ideas???? Huh???? Maybe he accidentally saw the last Transformers movie?

Warning: Spoiler!


There's so much to think about- so many intimations, hints, and suggestions. But zero firm answers. It's speculative and vague. And that is not something that most filmgoers like.
Last edit: 09 Apr 2018 17:19 by Michael Barnes.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gregarius

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
09 Apr 2018 19:16 #267183 by ratpfink
I really liked Annihilation when I saw it in the theater a few weeks ago. Visually it was really tremendous. I am totally ok with vague answers. But some of the stuff was straining my suspension of disbelief.
Warning: Spoiler!

and that didn't bother me too much during the movie until my wife brought up every example in our post-mortem afterwards. It's on Netflix? I'll probably watch it again.

Have been catching up on award nominees/winners for this year that I didn't see in the theater. Three Billboards was fantastic. The Post was boring, so I got some dishes done while it was on. Meryl Streep's character was so unlikeable to me that it made the climax of printing the pentagon papers just so unexciting. Rewatched Dunkirk and it held up pretty well.

Haven't seen Shape of Water yet but maybe will this weekend. I kind of want to see Darkest Hour again because I think that may be the best of the bunch. Gary Oldman, holy shit!

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
09 Apr 2018 19:30 #267185 by Cranberries

Joebot wrote:

Black Barney wrote: At the risk of upsetting Barnes, I guess it's that time that we start discussing SOLO which is coming out next month? I'm amazed there hasn't been any talk about it yet really, just an ocassional sidechat here and there.

Some new trailer is out and it looks all good and stuff, but I think they've made a horrible mistake casting Emilia Clarke in it. You have brunette Daenerys in Star Wars, in royal robes and everything. I even think Woody Harrelson might be a mistake. Anyway, still super interested to see it but those were pretty distracting things in the trailer for me.


I could give less of a s*** about this movie, but that is a very good trailer. I love the music.

It all just feels so ... unnecessary. You know this movie is going to be nothing more than a giant checklist of origin stories. How did Han meet Chewie? Meet Lando? Get his gun? Get the Falcon? Get his vest? Say, "I have a bad feeling about this?" Learn to play space chess? And on and on and on.

Prequels, by their very nature, are pretty stupid, because there's so little tension. They're just flowcharts, to get you from Point A to a pre-determined Point B. The only prequel I've seen recently that was a worth a crap is Better Call Saul.


NEW YORK—Expressing their excitement at the latest preview of the upcoming film, self-proclaimed Star Wars fans told reporters Monday that they were blown away by a newly released Solo trailer that sheds light on specifically how the upcoming film will suck. “In the past, they’ve teased at the way the new movie is going to completely blow, but the full-length trailer really shows so much more about how s***ty and wooden Alden Ehrenreich will be as a young Han Solo working his way through a boilerplate origin story,” said fan Lynn Hayes, noting that while the producers have provided hints at the way Solo would be a giant crock of s***—such as substantial script rewrites and the original directors being fired mid-shoot—it was a “real treat” to see the new trailer reveal so much about how the cast’s total lack of chemistry and the cringe-inducing dialogue would make the film a complete train wreck. “The teaser definitely stoked a lot of speculation about whether the movie would be mediocre because of generic characters like Therm Scissorpunch, Ron Howard’s uneven direction, or meaningless fan service like showing Chewbacca hugging his wife. It’s cool to know that it’s all of those things, and a lot more, that are really going to make this movie f****** garbage.” Hayes was, however, worried the trailer might contain spoilers that rob fans of experiencing a surge of hollow disappointment while watching Solo for the first time.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Black Barney, Gregarius, Nodens

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Apr 2018 14:14 - 10 Apr 2018 14:59 #267220 by ChristopherMD
I want to see A Quiet Place but I know I'd be aggravated by movie theaters being A Noisy Place.
Last edit: 10 Apr 2018 14:59 by ChristopherMD. Reason: A not The
The following user(s) said Thank You: Shellhead, Black Barney

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Apr 2018 14:17 #267221 by Gary Sax
^Alamo Drafthouse

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Apr 2018 16:32 #267234 by Ancient_of_MuMu
For some weird reason, no one here has mentioned seeing Ready Player One yet. Cant work out why ...

(my daughter saw it the other day and liked it, but I don't have the courage)

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Apr 2018 16:50 #267237 by Black Barney

Mad Dog wrote: I want to see A Quiet Place but I know I'd be aggravated by movie theaters being A Noisy Place.


lol i saw it today and it was fine. But yeah try to see it on a quiet day compared to cheap Tuesdays or whatever.

My favourite take on the movie is actually from a Houston-based movie reviewer. You'll love this:

"A Quiet Place" is the one film where, if you are surrounded by popcorn-crunching, cellophane rattling and cell-phone-chatting neighbors, you will wish these monsters were real.

The following user(s) said Thank You: Cranberries

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Apr 2018 18:48 #267246 by Disgustipater
Attachments:
The following user(s) said Thank You: Cranberries, Black Barney

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Apr 2018 19:28 #267247 by Black Barney
Yeah, it’s a deafly quiet movie. My theatre was half packed and no one made any noise. You actually find yourself trying to figure out what decibel level is the one that they hear.

Man, I’m still coming down from it... all pins and needles still

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
10 Apr 2018 19:38 #267249 by Michael Barnes
The Shape of Water...well, I suppose it is a testament to GDT's skills as a storyteller and his status as one of our premiere fantasists that a movie where a woman has sex with a fish man not only won over hearts and minds but also brought home Oscar.

It's such an unusual film- it's exquisitely made, and really pretty old fashioned and it's more or less a by-the-books Hollywood love story with stock villains and expected story beats. But it's also quirky and awkward, and pretty upfront about its definitely not mainstream eroticism. Yet it's handled like it's the most natural thing in the world for this woman to fall in love with said fish man. This is a movie who's principle message is "love is love", even though some might find the central concept of fish-fucking repulsive or distasteful.

The subplots were handled really well, and I was surprised at how psychotic and well-developed Michael Shannon's all-American ambitions were as they played out. A few characters I found myself wondering what they really had to do with anything, but then it all made sense in the end. I liked the "caper", I liked the spy stuff. All of that was handled with a light touch and didn't interfere with the core romance. Of course the musical scene was my favorite part of the film.

Warning: Spoiler!


So yeah, a really good one and a really surprising choice for Best Picture. I think it's better than Pan's Labyrinth, more restrained than Crimson Peak, and more sophisticated than some of his previous genre deep-dives. I think he hits the target of producing a mature, artful, adult fantasy drama, which he's been aiming for since Cronos, more squarely here than he ever has.
The following user(s) said Thank You: bendgar, ChristopherMD, Black Barney, Gregarius, ufe20

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 0.679 seconds