Film/Video Discussion Thread
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I think the falling down a hole bit was a premonition of the whole landfill debacle. -
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Send messageIn all seriousness though…
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - I’m really not sure if I ever sat down and watched the whole of this before tonight. I’ve watched at least bits of it a couple of times on TV and I’ve definitely watched it from the bit where the authorities take over the house to the end. So when my local cinema put it on as part of a Steven Spielberg season, I decided that I had to go see it and have my actual, definitive E.T. viewing. I put on my Sonic the Hedgehog T-shirt that reminds me of the one from my childhood and splashed out on popcorn and a Coke (the one time I have bought concessions in years) and sat down to have a proper old-fashioned popcorn film experience.
This is honestly a really magical film - often laugh-out-loud funny, particularly in the earlier sections and then a real emotional rollercoaster later on, aided by the brilliant John Williams score. The E.T. animatronic is actually pretty amazingly life-like - I think it helps a lot that it’s underlit a lot of the time. I think a combo of the low-key nature of the film, the practical effects and the genuinely good child performances conspire to make the world of the film feel actually convincing. I got quite emotional a few times during the film but the bit where the science guy is like “Elliott, he came to me too. I've been wishing for this since I was 10 years old,” weirdly scored a direct hit in the feels for me, I think because I’d just totally bought into the reality of the film by that point.
I totally got what I wanted out of this cinema visit, to be honest. Loved the film, my popcorn and Coke lasted a surprising amount of the runtime, can finally say I’ve carved out a little chunk of my life for E.T. In my top 10 cinema visits, maybe top 5. ★★★★★"ERE's like Mr. Muscle, he loves the things he hates" -
Just seen that The Revenant is almost ten years old. Frightening -
Doesn't ET suffer a bit from digital tinkering-enabled revision? Have heard later versions have guns in agents' hands replaced with torches.
Guns or torches, it's an all-timer. A film with real heart. What Spielberg excels at, or at least excelled at without becoming over sentimental.
It appeared when VHS piracy was at its peak. Never saw this in the cinema and saw 10 secs of a shitty quality VHS pirate in a mate's house. I was baffled by his and his father's boasting about having it. It was fucking dreadful looking so I passed on the opportunity to see it that way. So I only saw this years after its release on terrestrial TV.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009. -
Spielberg changed the guns to walkie talkies, but has since regretted doing so. It was the 20th anniversary version, so I suspect that anything on streaming will be the original version.
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Ah - that was it.Holding the wrong end of the stick since 2009.
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Send messageHarlequin (1980) - This is an incredibly oddball yet actually really good supernatural-slash-political thriller. A US senator is on the rise but is at risk of falling into the thrall of a powerful political backer who will stop at nothing in the pursuit of power. This wife, married for appearances rather than love, is unfulfilled and feels guilty about producing a son into a loveless marriage. And the son in question is dying of terminal leukaemia.
This abruptly changes when the titular harlequin gatecrashes the boy’s birthday party dressed as a clown. Like a benevolent - and horny - Pennywise, he seemingly cures the boy, takes the wife as his lover and begins to insert himself into the political affairs of the senator. But is the harlequin as benevolent, and supernatural, as he first appears?
Robert Powell is brilliant as the title character. While it’s not the best film ever, the script actually works pretty well. The film’s mixed reception is sort-of understandable as it mixes the supernatural and politics in a way that I can totally see not being everyone’s cup of tea. But it is my cup of tea and this seems a really unfairly under-remembered film to me. David Bowie and Orson Welles were slated to appear in this at one point and in the timeline where that actually happened this definitely went down as a proper cult classic. We didn’t do too badly in this timeline though and Powell really shines in this. Really good obscurity-to-quality ratio with this one. ★★★★☆"ERE's like Mr. Muscle, he loves the things he hates" -
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Send messageTonight’s E.T. had guns."ERE's like Mr. Muscle, he loves the things he hates" -
E.T. is definitely in my top 3 cinema experiences of all time. I was 10 when I saw it and it just swept me away. I hadn't seen anything that had brought me to tears and so totally enraptured me.
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Just kidding, haven't seen it properly ever, just in bits n pieces, but from what I've seen it's definitely shit.
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You're shit.
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Heh. This is exactly my story with E.T. toodavyK wrote:It appeared when VHS piracy was at its peak. Never saw this in the cinema and saw 10 secs of a shitty quality VHS pirate in a mate's house. I was baffled by his and his father's boasting about having it. It was fucking dreadful looking so I passed on the opportunity to see it that way. So I only saw this years after its release on terrestrial TV.
Come with g if you want to live... -
I am a FREE. I am not MAN. A NUMBER. -
Maybe I should give it a watch... -
ANYWAY I did actually watch Past Lives and thought it was superb. Beautifully acted and shot. Poignancy up the wazoo. Strong recommend if you like non-shit movies.
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My kids have always hated ET, I thought it was because they were young, but they refused to watch it over the years. I quite rightly love it. Perhaps it’s time for a DNA test.Things can only get better. -
Always hated ET. Dont know why because I loved Batteries Not Included which is simialr.
I think its the bit where he goes crusty. Stop worrying about ringing people and get some Nivea. -
At 10 that was the saddest thing I'd ever seen.
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That's no dust, it's *checks notes* sand from a landfill in New Mexico.
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Send messageDrewMerson wrote:It came out in the UK three months before I turned 4.
E.T. came out in the UK three months after I turned four, although I suspect I saw it a few months after that again. It scared the heck out of four year old me in any case, although I made it to the end. I'm yet to rewatch. -
Kow wrote:At 10 that was the saddest thing I'd ever seen.
I'd already seen 2 random people die by that age so I played it cool like a boss -
LivDiv wrote:Its not as shit as Free Willy Ill give it that.
I'll have one if there's any left, please.I am a FREE. I am not MAN. A NUMBER. -
Watched Free Guy the Ryan Reynolds movie where he’s an npc in gta online style game. Really really good. Jodie Comer is of course excellent and it’s exciting and funny
Towards the end of the movie he gets to use the
Spoiler:The Forum Herald™ -
Fucking terrible film.
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