Escape to the Movies: That Awkward Moment

[TheMadDoctorsCat]

Hehe, I'm in the UK... January is the ONLY good month for movies! We've had so far: "12 years a Slave", "Inside Llewyn Davis", "The Wolf of Wall Street", "American Hustle", etc. Last year we got "Django Unchained". The year before that, "Shame", "Martha Marcy May Marlene", "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".

Seriously, if you want good films in January, live in the UK.

 

[Callate]

Well, it's getting easier to tell when Moviebob didn't like a movie largely because it hit his buttons...

I don't doubt That Awkward Moment is neither Oscar fodder nor some sleeper hit that's destined for surprise cult status. But what I've seen doesn't suggest it warrants this kind of scathing contempt, either, nor does MB's review really make the case for it. That it's fluff, I never doubted. What I didn't get was whether the writing was any good, or the characters had any chemistry, or if the romance overplot was more or less contrived than usual for the genre; whether I would watch half an hour of it on Netflix before deciding that it wasn't worth it for free, or if I'd catch it for $3 with my wife at the second run theater and come out with a smile on my face despite forgetting it the next day. Y'know, my "heteronormative biases" safely confirmed.

I do find it slightly interesting that the plot as described bears a more than slight resemblance to Love's Labor's Lost. I wonder if that was at all intentional, or if that's giving it too much credit (or simply one more case of "there's only x number of plots, everything is a variation").

 

[Absimilliard]

The reason you aren't excited for this new Godzilla movie is because of PACIFIC RIM.

I mean really, once you have a BUNCH of giant monsters battling cool giant robots, what's so exciting about one giant monster versus some normal ol' humans?

Booooooring!

My thoughts exactly. (I actually went to the comment section with this very hypothesis in mind, but got beaten to the punch.) It took me awhile before I realised why I wasn't excited over the thought of a new Godzilla film, until I re-watched the trailer shortly after re-watching Pacific Rim for the umpteenth time.

 

[Evonisia]

Well thankfully I didn't see adverts for it, so I'll forget about it much faster. As for Nintendo, yeah it's sad but I'm sure they'll come up with something to pull through.

 

[Rad Party God]

Wow, this does seem like a mind numbingly boring little flick.

As for Ninty, I wish I'd have lots of money to throw at them, but I just can't justify buying a new console at the moment, not with a 400+ library of PC games.

 

[Merklyn236]

MovieBob, sometimes those of us who get jealous over you getting to see movies early forget how much you have to suffer through bad crap like this to keep reviewing the good stuff.

Thanks for sitting through what was apparently a really large steaming pile for us, so that we don't have to. (Not that I think many here would have though That Awkward Moment was a good idea for a night out, but whatever.)

 

[MB202]

Have I mentioned that I REALLY hate awkward moments? ...Also, Satoru Iwata certainly is a trooper, cutting his own wages in half instead of laying off employees. If only Western CEOs can learn from his example.

 

[franksands]

I think Bob's opinion of the movie is best expressed at 00:23.

 

[vagabondwillsmile]

The reason you should be excited for Godzillia is because it's Godzilla!

I mean, yeah, Pacific Rim was great and all... but it owes a loooot to big green.

While that is certainly true, I would argue this particular installment involving big green (I'm repeating that because I actually like the way it sounds - not to be snarky), owes EVERYTHING to Pacific Rim.

I imagine that this could have been a project that had been laying around for years waiting for the right moment with the studio wanting to undo the last Godzilla flop with a reboot, but not really knowing how or when. Given that Legendary Pictures did quality work with Pacific Rim and that they are behind the production of this new Godzilla, WB as the distributor (and having purchased the rights to Godzilla just a few years ago), could have just been taking a safe risk with del Toro's Pacific Rim just to see if they could pull off a serious money maker in Godzilla down the line.

And, del Toro brings his best game, and shows everybody how it's done. And even though its initial release was in the West and even though Western general audiences didn't give it much attention, for whatever reason, it was a smash in Japan - like they have a fandom of it now. So (speculation), the studio says - OH! That's how you do it! They pull out the script, make revisions to update it, get a army of special effects artists together and because dark, hard, moody remakes-by-committee of light-hearted source material are in, they go with that (end speculation). And it's just silly to me that the only thing Japanese about it that I can tell (other than Godzilla walks out of the ocean from that direction) is the kanji on the title card, and possibly two or three cast members. Really? But then if they want it to sell in the West better than PR, I guess they have to infuse some of that Roland Emerich-esque "magic" into the script to draw out today's general American audience.

Granted, the visuals in the preview look stunning; the mood is ominous; and the action looks exciting. But this one's very existence is, in all likelihood, riding on the coattails of better, more clever work, more original work.

I would bet money that if Pacific Rim had been a failure as a production, this movie wouldn't be happening now. But hey, this could be an awesome movie regardless. Though, I still think an attentive eye will see a difference between passion project, and blockbuster formula.

 

[shintakie10]

Still goin to see it since I have this feeling Bob's dislike of the movie is more along the lines of why he dislikes the American Pie movies than anything. Not that there's anythin wrong with that.

That and the character Miles Teller is playing seems to be the same character from 21 & Over which just clicked with me. Its like a less douchebaggey version of Stifler from American Pie.

 

[VonBrewskie]

You're doing dog's work Bob. Thanks for doing what you have to for us man. You're able to sit through a movie that I would never have even thought to approach and still provide insightful feedback. Can't wait to hear what you have to say about the Lego Movie. I...I'm just damned excited for that one. I feel like I shouldn't be, but I am. As far as Godzilla goes, I'm in the same boat. I really, really want to be excited for this. I can't be because I've been promised so much from all of these reboots/re-imaginings/revisiting of worlds and feel like over all it's been one big meh. I just am not physically capable of generating an interest anymore. Now I sit and hope that I'll be surprised and the movie will be good. I expect these films to either suck or be very, very dull at worst. I guess we'll see. By the way, have you seen Robocop yet? I've heard some early reports that our worst fears have been confirmed. It's boring.

 

[vagabondwillsmile]

Have I mentioned that I REALLY hate awkward moments? ...Also, Satoru Iwata certainly is a trooper, cutting his own wages in half instead of laying off employees. If only Western CEOs can learn from his example.

Beginning in 1978 Lee Iacocca as Chairman and CEO of Chrysler Corporation cut his own salary to $1.00 per year and encouraged his subordinate salary takers to structure cuts to their own pay as well, amidst lay-offs, in order to save the company from financial ruin (many of the laid-off workers were later able to return to their jobs). After being fired from Ford Motor Company following the revelation of serious design flaws in the Ford Pinto model, Chrysler picked him up to help restructure.

Granted that was a long time ago though. And you're right, that kind of self-sacrifice for the good of as many people in the company as possible is a very rare thing.

 

[thisbymaster]

Oh the fucks that I don't give about a bunch of single male models having 'issues' with their love life. Screw them, bring someone I can care about first, not people I would rather drop off a cliff.

 

[00slash00]

The previews for this movie just come off as, "Hey everyone, aren't guys awesome." Glad to hear I can safely skip this one.

As for Godzilla, I can easily articulate why I'm not excited. The Matthew Broderick Godzilla movie

 

[Kahani]

Does this guy look at ANYTHING outside of the race/gender/sexuality lens? I guess the whole site has drawn in that crowd, but Bob is the worst I think.

It's a film entirely about sexuality. Exactly which lens are we supposed to look at it through?

 

[cnewton87]

Should have gone back and reviewed something like Dredd, which never got a review

 

[bulger_paul]

When the week produces such horrible cinema, I'd kind of like to see you go back so I can get your thoughts on something like Inside Llewyn Davis or Her, instead.

 

[MichaelMaverick]

Yeah no, you don't hate the name because you're getting old. I hope this movie bombs hard just for that and they take that particular lesson from it. I hope this will not become a trend.

Does this guy look at ANYTHING outside of the race/gender/sexuality lens? I guess the whole site has drawn in that crowd, but Bob is the worst I think.

It's entirely appropriate when it's relevant, which it is now and a surprising number of times, really. Not my intention to rob him of viewers (though I'm not sure he even minds, in the case of people like you) but don't watch his reviews if you want to remain oblivious to cultural/societal context.