Recently watched movies

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Pseudonym said:

... anyone seen Primal Fear? That's a damn good film, but really it's only the ending, and Edward Norton's fantastic acting that make it so brilliant. 

Nope, haven't, but this is weird.  My brother was here (just left), and he was talking about how much he likes Edward Norton.

We had gotten into it because I mentioned that Yogi Bear's vocal mannerisms are a take-off on Art Carney's character in The Honeymooners, Ed Norton.  High-class intellectual, that's me!

[Pseudonym]

Don't know the connection (nor The Honeymooners). Did Ed Norton voice Yogi Bear at some point?

[Carol the Dabbler]

No, sorry, I'm adding a couple of links back there.  Ed Norton was a character in The Honeymooners sitcom from the 50's, played by Art Carney.  Yogi Bear was clearly based on Norton, especially the way he talked.

 

[Pseudonym]

Oh right, no wonder it went over my head. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Yup, way too intellectual for you. 

 

[Pseudonym]

So mean. 😭 

But since I wasn't around in the '50s I don't feel too bad about missing the point.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Having watched about 2 or 3 episodes of the honeymooners, plus all of the commercials for its reruns, I’m not surprised that Yogi Bear was based off Art Carney’s iconic character.

[Arcadia]

I've read a couple reviews of "Skyscraper", they're almost identical to  yours, VBS. I'd like to see it, there's just something about "The Rock" that I really enjoy. Which is weird because normally I hate that kind of thing. Maybe because he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously?

Last night I watched "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and kept thinking, if they ever do a remake, Cumberbatch would be perfect for the Jimmy Stewart role. I rather enjoyed the film (even Doris Day didn't bother me as much as she usually does), but it had a cheesy ending.  

[Van Buren Supernova]

I like him too, I think he has those fun charisma, and yes, maybe because he doesn't take himself too seriously. Anyway I like him since WWE times, used to watch some of it back then, before internet was common and we relied on what being shown on TV

 

I saw trailer of Venom and happy that Tom Hardy would star in it. I like him too, in very not shallow way, he loves dogs and he has sexy lips ... Oh I mean I enjoy his movies.

[Pseudonym]

This looks really weird.

 

[Arcadia]

Ooooh, I read that manga. Although it wasn't a favorite, I don't remember a thing about it other than the name. I wonder why they picked that one?

[Pseudonym]

Just saw the Slenderman trailer. What utter rubbish.

[Arcadia]

I used to play a game online that a lot of young kids also played, like 10-12 or so. It included a chat feature, and that was how I first heard about Slenderman. It sounded like utter rubbish to me, too. Why even bother? *sigh*

[Pseudonym]

Oh no, I like Slenderman as a 'myth' and I think it's fascinating that something created purely as a creepy pasta on a forum has taken on such a life of it's own, but this movie looks so stupid. 

[Pseudonym]

Just watched Assassin's Creed, underwhelmed. I've yet to see a video game adaptation that's actually good. It wasn't awful, but I just didn't care much about any of the characters. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

2 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

It wasn't awful, but I just didn't care much about any of the characters. 

There's been some discussion of this before, but I don't recall if you rang in on it.  Do you tend to prefer movies/shows where there's at least one character that you like or care about or can relate to in some way?

I'm generally that way, but it just occurred to me that maybe I didn't use to be.  For example, I liked Mission Impossible (the TV show), and those characters didn't even have personalities.  Of course they were the "good guys" though, so I was rooting for them.  Maybe that counted.

[T.o.b.y]

2 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

There's been some discussion of this before, but I don't recall if you rang in on it.  Do you tend to prefer movies/shows where there's at least one character that you like or care about or can relate to in some way?

I'm generally that way, but it just occurred to me that maybe I didn't use to be.  For example, I liked Mission Impossible (the TV show), and those characters didn't even have personalities.  Of course they were the "good guys" though, so I was rooting for them.  Maybe that counted.

I know you asked Pseud and not me, Carol, but I thought the question was interesting, so I am chiming in anyway. 

I definitely need to care about at least one character in a story to maintain any kind of interest. Doesn't mean I have to approve of their behavior and choices or consider them "good", but they have to resonate with me somehow. 

I am pretty willing to fill in blanks though. I regularly watch the old Mission Impossible series with my mom and I just wildly project personalities onto the agents. I like that show. But I don't love it, I guess because the emotional involvement is lacking. It certainly doesn't keep me awake at night the way Sherlock does. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I think I may view MI as more of a puzzle than a story, so the characters are basically placeholders, like Colonel Mustard and Mrs. White in a game of Clue.

[Pseudonym]

I need to at least find them interesting. And if I care about them or relate to them then even better. 

But then if I find them interesting (whether they are good or bad) I suppose do care about them, so maybe that's the same thing. Hm. 

In AC there was too much jumping about between past and present so I feel that I never got to know a character enough to care all that much. I think maybe that's more important, knowing a character well enough that you can read into them and find something to care about, which is obviously easier in a TV series with more time. But saying that there are plenty of movies that suck me in straight away. AC even had a foot in the door, since I know the world, have played the games, and care about some of those characters. 

Hope that's not too garbled, I've only just woken up and haven't stumbled downstairs for coffee yet!

[Carol the Dabbler]

4 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

... there was too much jumping about between past and present so I feel that I never got to know a character enough to care all that much.

I tried to read War and Peace once.  After a couple of chapters, just about the time I was starting to get the characters straight in my head -- they jumped ahead a generation.  Closed the book and never tried again.  I mean, why bother?

[T.o.b.y]

I never got anywhere with War and Peace either. It bored me which probably means I am too dumb for it. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

9 minutes ago, T.o.b.y said:

I never got anywhere with War and Peace either. It bored me which probably means I am too dumb for it. 

Maybe. But I doubt it!

I suspect it's mostly that the concept of a novel, especially a "serious" novel, has changed a great deal since W&P was written.  I've read a few shorter "serious" novels of the same era and found them more manageable, but pretty tedious as well.

[Pseudonym]

Just saw Hail, Caesar! An oddity of a film, I think anyone who liked O Brother, Where Art Thou? will like it, it's equally as, uh, 'Coen Brothers' if that can be classed as a genre. I'm not sure if I liked it or not, but there are without doubt some hilarious scenes; Channing Tatum's turn as a 'Gene Kelly' singing and tap-dancing his way through a camp bar scene. An actor I've never come across before as the studios 'John Wayne', doing ridiculously OTT horse stunts. More actor cameos than you can shake a stick at.  

[Carol the Dabbler]

1 hour ago, Pseudonym said:

Just saw Hail, Caesar! An oddity of a film

According to Wikipedia, the main character is a highly fictionalized version of Eddie Mannix, a studio executive who "is remembered for his work protecting Hollywood stars as a "fixer", a person paid to disguise details of the stars' often colorful private lives to maintain their public image."

[Pseudonym]

Yea