Filler Filler, 1 2 3.

[xyzzysqrl]

Five movies I tend to reccomend to people who think like me, and also want to see a movie.

5. Gattaca - I occasionally hear people bring this movie up, mind you. Most seem to like it.
4. Dark City - ...which is actually the reason for this list being created. More people need to see this movie. Maybe then they'd shut up about The Matrix.
3. Hudson Hawk - I'm still considering this one of the best Bruce Willis films ever. My friend Chris and I rented it over 20 times before I finally bought the DVD release.
2. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - Before heads start exploding out there, bear in mind I'm talking about the animation. This is still the only directed-at-adults full-3D movie I've ever seen, and somewhere around the 30 minute mark my mind forgets it's prerendered animation at all. (Does the same thing with Toy Story 2, mind you.) The plot's sort of eh-worthy, I'll agree.
1. Real Genius Probably one of my favorite movies of all time. Jordan is some kind of goddess to me. If you like silly 80s teen movies, watch this now.

Comments

[elix.livejournal.com]

Final Fantasy was a good movie, if you ignored the fact that the plot itself was... elementary. Remind me to do my impression of how to characterize the villain. It's kind of funny.

I fell in and out of believing the animation as real, during the movie... more time in than out... but at the very end, with that hawk/bird/whatever, flying over the terrain (the side shot, not the birds-eye-view).. I SWEAR TO GOD THAT WAS LIVE FOOTAGE. And then that song's dreamy... *purr*

[scian-ashleyder.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen 1, 3, or 5.

I saw Final Fantasy: TSW. I hope the people who fucked this mockery of Final Fantasy up die a painful death unless they atone for the sins (may they weigh heavily on their souls).

Now Dark City, on the other hand, was EXCELLENT. I LOVE this movie. In fact, I can't imagine WHY I don't have it. I've gotta go buy that...

I think I'll make a similar list of my own at some point in the future. Of course, THAT will take a while to put together, and I'll probably have to do 10 instead of 5 because there's too many good ones.

[elix.livejournal.com]

Aside from the horrible, horrible villain character, FF:TSW wasn't that bad. I just look at it this way: IT'S NOT FINAL FANTASY.

Because, really, it isn't. Add Cid (spelled 'Sid' in the credits) and Gaea theory, and that's the only ties to FF that there is. Square just wanted a fanbase to work with. If this had been just "The Spirits Within" or "Jonny Spazquest" it would've bombed far worse.

[xyzzysqrl]

I actually really love TSW. It had everything I really wanted from it. It's almost certainly better than the pile of fanwank Avent Children will turn out to be. It just isn't a particuarly well written movie. If it had live actors in it, the Sci Fi channel could've turned it out for about $450 and aired it as one of their b-movies and no one would have batted an eye.

...besides, Final Fantasy mocks itself well enough that it needs no help, really.

[elix.livejournal.com]

Advent Children! For people who don't want to play the game and then beat it in two hours!!

Christ, Square. Do FF6. You'll have big grown men in tears when Celes attempts to commit suicide.

[xyzzysqrl]

To be fair to it, it is absolutely not possible to beat FF7 in two hours. Even rushing, I think it takes 25.

That said... I'd rather see a movie based on the Front Mission series than ANY Final Fantasy film. But I'm biased, 'cause mecha.

[kiruppert.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who's so excited about Advent Children she's tried to send me the trailer like three times now. Of course, I think the reason she's waiting so eagerly is because Sephiroth is in the trailer, and Sephiroth makes her cream her jeans.

-K

[scian-ashleyder.livejournal.com]

I prefer Red XIII.

Or, if we have to stay with (at least semi-) humans, Vincent Valentine.

[scian-ashleyder.livejournal.com]

...............................................

I think I'm going to have to decline to continue this conversation now before I do mean things to the sqrl.

[xyzzysqrl]

Well. 3 and 1 are very, very Squirrel movies. That being, they're full of exceptionally goddamn silly stuff, like (Hudson Hawk) Bruce Willis singing his way through an art robbery, or a golf bag filled with high-explosive plungers, or great lines from Val Kilmer in Real Genius (Other character: "The -weirdest thing just happened..." Val: "Did you have a dream where you were standing in sort of sun god robes on top of a pyramid, with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?" OC: "...no?" Val: "Why am I the only one who has that dream?" ...or my personal favorite throwaway line: "All my filth is arranged in alphabetical order. This for example, was under "H" for "Toy".)

...so... really, they're weird. 5 is -way- more serious.

[kiruppert.livejournal.com]

I saw Dark City once. It was pretty good.

I should do this too. Let people know about such film classics as The Thirteenth Warrior and Kung Pow!.

-K

[xyzzysqrl]

I think I'm going to follow this up with 5 movies (maybe more) that I would only reccomend to someone I hated.

"Cube" and "This is Spinal Tap" are going on this list.

[scian-ashleyder.livejournal.com]

.... We really seem to have very different tastes in movies. I loved Cube.

[xyzzysqrl]

Cube was a fantastic and blessedly low-budget movie up until the last ten minutes, which... and you know how rarely I say things like this... UTTERLY FUCKED the pacing and point of the movie to the point that I just gave up on caring. If it hadn't been for the ending, I would have loved that movie.

Particuarly the sound-activated trap room. That was fantastic.

[shrikefeather.livejournal.com]

I agree completely, but still keep cube around.

it's... inspriational, for ideas.

--flutter

[kiruppert.livejournal.com]

I've heard good things about Cube, oddly enough. Spinal Tap too.

I want to see Cube 2. I know I know, you can call me a masochist if you like. But Geraint Wyn Davies is in it, and I really like him.

-K

[phennphawcks.livejournal.com]

I was so disappointed that TSW didn't feature any chocobos or interracial homoeroticism or moogles. And didn't anyone bother telling the character designers that the hero is supposed to have ludicrusly pointy hair?

[scian-ashleyder.livejournal.com]

You mean interracial homoeroticism between moogles and chocobos?

[xyzzysqrl]

...I'm thinking... fanfic.

[orrin.livejournal.com]

Everything on that list is fucking spectacular (especially Dark City and Gattaca except... fucking Final Fantasy. Come on, Gordy. Admit it. It invented new kinds of sucking.

As for Cube... I loved it. I agree that the ending had some... we'll call them problems. But it was still a good movie in spite of them. Certainly not something I'd send the way of someone I hated. Not when there are movies like Mission to Mars or Versus that I could be doing that with.

[xyzzysqrl]

Nope. I will defend Spirits Within to my last breath as being a pretty good piece of film. It wasn't genius, like I keep saying, but it didn't suck as much as people claim in my opinion. The visuals were incredible. That's all I care about. They carried the movie through four re-watchings so far.

Cube... if the ending hadn't been "Psycho somehow reaches survivors, activates god damn cloaking device so they can't hear him open the door, shanks the only worthwhile character in the film with a weapon pulled from... SOMEWHERE, possibly one of the doors, except they're pretty clearly bolted on, and then the ending peters out from there", I would be claiming the movie UTTERLY RULES.

As it is... I'm not big on it.

...And okay. I loved Versus. I still love Versus. But it's a pile of crap. It's just a FUN pile of crap. Like, a pile of crap with a party hat on it and Groucho Marx glasses. I can't help liking it.

Mission To Mars... pack it with Red Planet and you've got yourself a theme suicide kit.

[orrin.livejournal.com]

To me the problem with Final Fantasy is, finally and simply, the visuals weren't good enough to make me not care that it was a boring, unwatchable mess in all other regards. They were just elongated versions of the cinematics from FFVIII, more or less. Sure, they looked good, but there was nothing visually exciting enough to wake my ass up. I guess that's my problem with it.

Maybe it was a technological achievement, but it was not good film.

As for Cube, yeah, I'm pretty much with you. I mean, sure, I know why it happened (kind of, though I disagree with the motives that I imagine are behind the filmmakers doing it), but... well... what the Jesus?!?! I mean, come on, if he could navigate the rooms that well (not to mention him getting into the room at all via fucking magic) why wasn't he out of there hours ago?

I guess Red Planet is, for me, kind of what FF is for you. I actually enjoyed the movie, but that's because I don't remember it containing anything except a crazy robot monkey thing that knew Judo. Oh, and the chaplain guy with the rock that God made. Those are the only two things that happened in that movie as far as my recollections are concerned.

[jaeix.livejournal.com]

Solaris. God damned Solaris. That's the movie I'd send to someone when I wanted to say "I hate your entire existence, and I want you to die miserable and bored out of your mind," but I wanted to say it with George Clooney.

I truly enjoy all the rest of those movies as well (to varying degrees), EVEN the love-it-or-hate-it Final Fantasy: TSW. The plot had me snoring and fidgeting in my seat, but holy rock candy, the cinematics -- how can you pass that movie off at all without calling it a fantastic venture and feat of cinematics? Both regardless of and including the fact it was rendered.

I'll admit, though, 90% of the fascination comes from being both an accomplished technophile and a 3D animation student at one point in my career.

[scian-ashleyder.livejournal.com]

Ok. I'll grant that the ONE worthwhile thing was the animation in TSW. One thing does not a movie make.

And I could not agree more about Solaris. I finished that movie and I was staring at teh screen, thinking simply: "What? Why? huh? What?"

[orrin.livejournal.com]

Jae: Oh my fucking God yes, Solaris! I swear to God that was the longest motherfucking 99 minutes of my life. I am terrified of the original Russian version because it's like three fucking hours long. If they couldn't nurse 10 minutes of watchable-ness out of a 99 minute movie with the combined powers of Steven Soderburgh and George Clooney, wat kind of an abomination must the version that's twice that long (at least) and involves no one I've ever heard of ever be?

I watched Solaris the same night I almost kinda half-assed watched Daredevil, and while Daredevil is still one of the most wretched pieces of filth I have ever wasted my life on, it's still better than motherfucing Solaris.

Want to see something that'll make you cry? <a href="http://www.chud.com/reviews/solaris.php3</a>http://www.chud.com/reviews/solaris.php3</a> Bear in mind that Smilin' Jack Ruby is the one CHUD reviewer who is <i>almost always</i> wrong and that he doesn't work there anymore and the fact that he's obviously mad should not in any way deter you from worshipping CHUD.com and using them as your <i>only</i> reliably source for movie reviews besides yours truly. Y'know what two movies would definitely go on my sending 'em to people 'cuz I hate those people like burning? <i>Queen of the Damned</i> and <i>Legion of the Dead</i>. Oh my God the pain. That's it, I need to do these two lists now.

[orrin.livejournal.com]

LiveJournal doesn't love my HTML tags.

[scian-ashleyder.livejournal.com]

......

I'm sorry, but Queen of the Damned doesn't deserve such a designation - only because of the walking hotness of Townshend. They majorly fucked the story, true, but I own this movie JUST so I can drool at Townshend.

[orrin.livejournal.com]

Townsend may or may not be attractive, but he is a sucking vaccuum of talent.