michael c hall performing a dance routine with his mind controlled cronies at the end wasn't all that balanced tbh
― orakle-krake (Gukbe), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Guess I'm firmly in the not-that-bad/not-that-good camp.
― Eric H., Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:19 (thirteen years ago) link
chew on this, Gamer fans
― orakle-krake (Gukbe), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:20 (thirteen years ago) link
um
― Fee Fie Fo, FUNFNFUINFLFF! (HI DERE), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:21 (thirteen years ago) link
dude should write about britney
― hot dub grime machine (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:22 (thirteen years ago) link
Yup, this was the only scene that really *pushed* at the boundaries, but for some reason, it wasn't off into the utterly ridiculous realm. Probably just me thinking that, though.
― turtles all the way down (mh), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:25 (thirteen years ago) link
we ah doolee appointed dream thieves
― am0n, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:27 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm going to c/p a bit of that rant at random here:
an oppressive virtual reality, within which an ultra-macho protagonist has to fight his way out of a situation in which everything has been rigged against him. The working-out of this plot is entirely formulaic and as-expected, up to and including the requisite happy ending and triumph of the macho figure. However, the movie’s adherence to these genre norms is so perfunctory as almost to be sarcastic. The macho action protagonist, Kable, is played by action star Gerard Butler (best known for his starring role as Leonidas in 300). But in Gamer, Kable is sketched out so minimally that Butler can barely be bothered to go through the motions required for the part; he is so inexpressive as to make Clint Eastwood look like a wild overactor in comparison. (Or perhaps I should say, to make Jean-Claude Van Damme look like a miracle of thespian subtlety in comparison; except that we now know that Van Damme really is such a miracle). Gamer‘s adherence to genre norms, both in terms of the plot and in terms of the requisite displays of jiggling breasts, loud explosions, and hyped up macho insults (such as those that one crazed killer — who of course is black — addresses to the white Kable at one point), seem to be little more than a framework upon which Neveldine and Taylor are able to hang their delirious inventions. Or better, it is as if the film’s genre normativity (in terms of plot, character, gender, etc.) expresses and exposes the way that neoliberal ideology explicitly forecloses any possibility of social change. As the neoliberal mantra puts it, “There Is No Alternative”; any alteration of social arrangements is literally unthinkable. Gamer’s strict adherence to
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:28 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, I probably ruined my ability to have an opinion on the film by skimming a little bit of Shaviro's blog before viewing.
― turtles all the way down (mh), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:29 (thirteen years ago) link
this is the DREAMSCAPE remake, yes?
― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:30 (thirteen years ago) link
http://wherethelongtailends.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/ds2.jpg
― am0n, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 18:33 (thirteen years ago) link
is this even on at IMAX in the UK?
― colnagl (cozen), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 19:39 (thirteen years ago) link
gamer would have ruled if gerard butler played a stathamy bad-ass instead of a sulky family man
― da croupier, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 19:42 (thirteen years ago) link
ok I'll bite, what was arrogant about Memento? (the only thing I've seen by him I could stand)
― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 19:55 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah I don't really understand how a movie can be "arrogant"
― Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 19:55 (thirteen years ago) link
it's on at the real imaxes coz: bfi, manchester, etc.
― caek, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 20:05 (thirteen years ago) link
wot u mean real?
http://forum.videohelp.com/images/guides/p2035529/imax.jpg
― postcards from the (ledge), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 20:07 (thirteen years ago) link
i mean it's not on at the big mulitplexes that have been rebranded as imax for the post-avatar era even though they are not using imax projectors and the screens are much smaller
― caek, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 20:09 (thirteen years ago) link
no imax in scotland btw
or not being called "imax" at the multiplexes for some reason
― caek, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 20:10 (thirteen years ago) link
ellen page is my new obsession - after seeing juno again (and warming to it) and also whip it (which was pretty good for a barrymore movie). also she's doing a film on knitting (based on the classic stitch 'n' bitch book). so anyway yeah i gotta see it
― Nathalie (stevienixed), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 21:31 (thirteen years ago) link
imax glasgow 25m x 19m fwiw
― jed_, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 21:43 (thirteen years ago) link
I just want a reasonably good film. If I get that, great, and if it looks fantastic on IMAX, even better, and I have hopes for both.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 17:54 (3 hours ago) Bookmark
this is what i look for in a film, too.
― jed_, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 21:45 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah so ner
xp
also: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100714/REVIEWS/100719997
― colnagl (cozen), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 21:45 (thirteen years ago) link
lol sorry scotland.
going to see this at 9.30am sunday screening o_O : (
― caek, Wednesday, 14 July 2010 22:05 (thirteen years ago) link
So far the only thing I'm mildly bummed about is Hans Zimmer replacing David Julyan to score Nolan's movies since Batman.
― the subject of many men’s thoughts (daavid), Wednesday, 14 July 2010 22:07 (thirteen years ago) link
http://www.avclub.com/articles/inception,43128/
AV Club gives this an A-.
― Don Homer (kingfish), Thursday, 15 July 2010 00:56 (thirteen years ago) link
sitting through Gamer all i could think was how much academics could and would have a field day with it. awful stuff though.
― orakle-krake (Gukbe), Wednesday, July 14, 2010 4:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark
http://www.shaviro.com/Blog/?p=830
― latebloomer, Thursday, 15 July 2010 08:57 (thirteen years ago) link
going for midnight tonight, on not-IMAX. Stoked.
― Simon H., Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:33 (thirteen years ago) link
this is raadddddddd
― max, Friday, 16 July 2010 03:51 (thirteen years ago) link
there are a couple things that dont work and a huge (i think) plot hole but d-d-d-d-damn mostly it is just sweet
― max, Friday, 16 July 2010 03:53 (thirteen years ago) link
Watched Gamer and Law Abiding Citizen back to back with a friend one night. Incredibly masochistic, but pretty glad I did it. I thought the one thing Gamer did get right was the internet - an amalgamation of facebook, counter-strike and porn.
Actually also watched the opening sequence at uni - for a Sound Design class.
― lowwave (S-), Friday, 16 July 2010 04:47 (thirteen years ago) link
**spoiler**
still dont "get" the whole "limbo" thing? if you can just get out of it by killing yourself, why did leo and marion stay there for like 50 years? or did they never leave????????????
― max, Friday, 16 July 2010 05:04 (thirteen years ago) link
just got back. this was awesome. amazed I followed so well at this early in the a.m. and already being exhausted. loved the surreal nature of it...must see this again as I think it'll uncover more things.
― San Te, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:05 (thirteen years ago) link
dude help me figure out the limbo thing
― max, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:08 (thirteen years ago) link
#SPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERSSPOILERS#
@max -- I think the concept behind "limbo" was that it was raw mental activity, and you don't necessarily know right away that you're in it. Which makes sense as to why Leo's character had to 'plant' the thought in his wife's mind that the world wasn't real.
My interpretation is that Marion and Leo did leave. but, the Japanese guy was then in limbo since he then died before the "kick". they never showed him offing Leo, so whether they actually woke up at the end is debatable, as evidenced by them not showing whether the top stopped spinning.
Good lord I'm going crosseyed.
― San Te, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:09 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah i think that's where im at too--it was confusing as to whether or not ppl understood they were in limbo. and yeah the sense i got was the leo didnt leave at the end, cf the whole "you never know how you got to the place where you are in dreams" thing
― max, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:14 (thirteen years ago) link
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
Agreed. It took me thinking for a full half hour on this, but I interpreted that they didn't know they were in limbo, or they did know, but limbo was so "blissful" in comparison to regular dreams, that nobody dared want to return. I'm leaning towards the latter now.
Just wow though.
― San Te, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:21 (thirteen years ago) link
SPOILER
this film was fuckin nuts
― max, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Yea. I'm glad I had a 40 something ounce soda to pump caffeine into me, because once ounce of fatigue, and I would have fallen too far behind to catch up.
Man that kid that used to be on Third Rock from the Sun was pretty awesome too
― San Te, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:28 (thirteen years ago) link
gf was swooning over him the whole movie
― max, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:29 (thirteen years ago) link
was it just me or did it seem like ellen page brought her own wardrobe to the set, it was like everyone dressed in these perfect retro suits and shirts and then theres fuckin JUNO in her g-damn bandana
heh I did notice that.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
(not really but I'm being safe)
It is kind of amusing to think that sans about 5 minutes, all of the action in the movie happened in a dream.
― San Te, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:32 (thirteen years ago) link
i liked this but it had the potential to be more.
it was mostly good though!
― San Te, Friday, July 16, 2010 7:28 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark
seriously! he was really good.
― latebloomer, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:36 (thirteen years ago) link
I've decided I ain't going to sleep. I have to be up in 3 hours to get ready for work. maybe a 1.5 hour nap. Ugh this movie! I'm going to go find me a totem now.
― San Te, Friday, 16 July 2010 07:55 (thirteen years ago) link
This wasn't about dreams as much as it was about navigating the rules of created worlds (the dream landscapes in the movie are even called levels like in video games. Not a spoiler.) It's basically a bigger, explodey-er, less squicky re-imagining of Cronenberg's eXistenZ as a heist movie.
The emotional beats felt kinda flat to be honest, but the spectacle was exhilarating.
― latebloomer, Friday, 16 July 2010 09:10 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah emotions were totally empty
― max, Friday, 16 July 2010 09:11 (thirteen years ago) link
nolan doesnt really give a shit about emotions as far as i can tell. everything in this movie is about bodies moving around in space--even ideas are given literal embodiment. tons and tons of machines doing machine-y things.
― max, Friday, 16 July 2010 09:12 (thirteen years ago) link
score is all loud n shit
the surrealism works quite in its favor though.
btw guys my dreams were FUCKED UP -- I got maybe 2.5 hours of sleep and I pretty much dreamed I was doing what the characters in the movie were doing.
― San Te, Friday, 16 July 2010 13:04 (thirteen years ago) link