Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 30, 2017 17:35:23 GMT -5
 Crazy to think this movie is under 2 hours while summer blockbusters are 3 hours for no reason. Anyway, Taxi Driver is an odd movie. Travis Bickle is an insomniac Vietnam veteran that gets a job as a taxi driver because he has nothing else to do. He drives around 1970's New York and complains about the scum on the streets. That makes sense. He almost died in the jungle and now returns to see all this shit. The movie then gets weird as we see Travis awkwardly trying to romance a pretty blonde girl that works in the campaign office of a Presidential candid. He fails miserably and retaliates by attempting to assassinate the candidate. That's just dumb. You can rationalize it however you want. You can write all the college essays you want. But that whole section of the movie is silly. To put into context, Ronald Reagan got shot because some dude wanted to impress Jodie Foster. I bet everyone's reaction to that is, "wow! What a loser." If Travis had been presented that way, that plot could have worked, but it's not what the movie is going for. The fact Travis is a Vietnam veteran is often glossed over. That's really the heart of the movie. You have a guy who got drafted to war, saw some shit, and is now dumped into society. He meets a 12 year old hooker and wants to rescue her. He could have called the cops. He could have taken a different approach. But he's been conditioned to believe that violence is a solution and kills a bunch of people to be a hero. The ironic thing is that it works. The media praises him. There seems to be no legal repercussions. The parents thank him. I can't say what Paul Schrader's intends were. That guy's a weirdo. Just watch his other movies. But I can see what Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro were going for. You're a product of your environment. Here you have a troubled young man ignored by society and surrounded by violence. You can't be surprised when he starts shooting people. |
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Doomsday
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Post by Doomsday on Jul 30, 2017 19:59:14 GMT -5
There's the fan theory* that everything post-shootout is a dream/fantasy sequence and that Travis is really dead. Of course it's stupid but it's a solution some people have come up with.
*Always remember that all fan theories are, in every sense of the word, retarded.
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Post by Dracula on Jul 30, 2017 21:11:20 GMT -5
There's the r easonable interpretation based on intentional tonal shifts in that section of the movie that everything post-shootout is a dream/fantasy sequence and that Travis is really dead. Fixed |
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 31, 2017 1:45:27 GMT -5
Like Rick & Morty, let's go post apocalyptic.
Mad Max!
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 31, 2017 1:47:19 GMT -5
A few years from now... after Trump
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 31, 2017 1:59:24 GMT -5
The opening car chase is great. Well shot. Well edited. Good stunts. Establishes the world and characters.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 31, 2017 2:01:05 GMT -5
The infamous scene in which the toddler is playing with a gun in the background.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 31, 2017 2:18:11 GMT -5
George Miller didn't have enough of a budget to create a post apocalyptic world, which is the #1 criticism of this movie, but he does a commendable job of establishing an isolated world. You'd shit your pants if you were driving in an empty road and Toecutter and his biker gang showed up.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Jul 31, 2017 3:02:01 GMT -5
You can leave the wasteland but the wasteland doesn't leave you.
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Post by Neverending on Jul 31, 2017 3:22:45 GMT -5
 You can poke holes into Mad Max. It's cheesy. The script is based around dumb coincidences. But for a low-budget movie from a cinematic third world country it's badass. Great camerawork and editing. Awesome stunts. Mel Gibson isn't quite Mel Gibson just yet but you see sparks of what made him a star. Y'all should give it another chance if you haven't. |
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Post by PG Cooper on Aug 2, 2017 19:40:18 GMT -5
That's just dumb. You can rationalize it however you want. You can write all the college essays you want. But that whole section of the movie is silly. To put into context, Ronald Reagan got shot because some dude wanted to impress Jodie Foster. I bet everyone's reaction to that is, "wow! What a loser." If Travis had been presented that way, that plot could have worked, but it's not what the movie is going for. This is one of my favourite aspects of the movie. The fact that part of Travis' call to violence is based on the delusions of a pathetic loser, but rather than merely paint him as such, Scorsese, Schrader, and De Niro try and get to the heart of what drives a person to that point. The more sympathetic portrayal makes for a more challenging film as a viewer can see why someone (even them) might be led down such a path. There's the fan theory* that everything post-shootout is a dream/fantasy sequence and that Travis is really dead. Of course it's stupid but it's a solution some people have come up with. *Always remember that all fan theories are, in every sense of the word, retarded. That reading is not at all nonsensical. From the child-like tone with which the letter from Iris' father is written in, to Travis becoming more social with his fellow cabbies, to the weird moment right before the end where the sound gets sinister and Travis adjusts his mirror. But perhaps the most compelling evidence is the presence of Betsy at the end, which does have a certain fantastical presentation. Beyond that, the notion of your dream girl finally coming to you and being able to reject her is a fairly common fantasy among lonely men. You can poke holes into Mad Max. It's cheesy. The script is based around dumb coincidences. But for a low-budget movie from a cinematic third world country it's badass. Great camerawork and editing. Awesome stunts. Mel Gibson isn't quite Mel Gibson just yet but you see sparks of what made him a star. Y'all should give it another chance if you haven't. I like the OG Mad Max a lot. I should probably revisit it with the girlfriend soon. |
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 0:51:18 GMT -5
I don't think the girlfriend is gonna like Mad Max. Take her to the Emoji Movie instead.
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 2:35:00 GMT -5
Doomsday is gonna be watching Kundun pretty soon. I should face my own demon. 1941
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 2:39:58 GMT -5
Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures
I can picture them arguing over who to blame.
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Neverending
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 2:42:04 GMT -5
Takes balls to make a comedy about Pearl Harbor
I wonder if we'll live to see a 9/11 comedy
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 2:43:27 GMT -5
More fog, Spielberg.
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 2:44:38 GMT -5
Ready Player One isn't the first time Spielberg references himself.
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 2:52:33 GMT -5
Steven Spielberg's approach to comedy is the same as Michael Bay's approach to action.
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 2:58:46 GMT -5
They just gave John Belushi a bunch of drugs and pointed a camera at him.
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 3:07:45 GMT -5
Only took 25 minutes to get one chuckle from me.
You
You
You
You... have a serious wardrobe problem
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 3:10:51 GMT -5
Okay... two chuckles, but you're cheating with Slim Pickens.
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 3:18:15 GMT -5
Three chuckles
*sitting on a toilet*
"You ain't getting shit out of me."
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 3:35:42 GMT -5
The dance club scene is the equivalent of the train scene in Lone Ranger.
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 3:56:13 GMT -5
Four chuckles
"What are you shooting at?"
"I don't know. Whatever they're shooting at."
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Post by Neverending on Aug 3, 2017 4:59:35 GMT -5
 It's amusing to think 1941 could have ended Steven Spielberg's career before it had even started. It's that bad. The action scenes are great. The special effects are great. The music is great. But there's no comedy. It has the bare minimal of a story. The characters are indistinguishable. There's too much shouting, screaming and explosions. It has rapid editing, giving nothing any breathing room. It's a fucking disaster. If you told people this movie was from the guy who had just made Jaws and Close Encounters, they'd think you were lying. Only explanation for 1941 is that it was obviously made unders pounds of cocaine. |
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