The Big Picture: Summer's End

[pottyaboutpotter1]

Well, at least we're not getting another video of Bob criticizing The Lone Ranger again.

 

[daxterx2005]

The only one on that list that I missed was Maniac, as a matter of fact I'd never even heard of it.
I'm going to seek it out now.

 

[Ashley Blalock]

Instead of a worst of list a most disappointing list does sound more interesting. It's easy to get a bad movie with poor directing, poor writing, and poor acting, but it takes something to be able to have good components and end up with something that left people thinking they wasted their ticket money.

 

[Daaaah Whoosh]

I'm surprised Great Gatsby made it on the list. The entire film, to me, felt like big setpieces where nothing happened, music that felt woefully out of place and useless in the context, and dialogue ripped directly from the book, with very little commentary on the side of the actors as to what their characters were actually feeling. The whole time, I either felt like the only reason I knew what was going on was because I'd read the book, or I felt like absolutely nothing was happening and if I had been watching it alone I would have asked for my money back. But if it worked for other people, perhaps people more in tune with popular culture or whatever shit you need to be into to get such a film, then I will accept that it worked for those people.

 

[JimB]

I was just grateful that Mako and Raleigh didn't fall in love.

Thank you. The whole idea of girlfriends being handed out by the universe as rewards for surviving traumatic experiences has been done to death in pretty much every movie ever.

 

[Arppis]

Well, at least we're not getting another video of Bob criticizing The Lone Ranger again.

Yeah... yeah... but next episode will be about Man of Steel... AGAIN.

 

[Wolfenbarg]

Didn't you rip Gatsby a new one? Where in the hell did that 180 take place and why didn't you even mention it? It was extremely jarring to see that turnaround, especially while clips of its bad visual style were on display. How weird.

 

[JimB]

Didn't you rip Gatsby a new one?

No. He closed his review by saying it wasn't bad, it just could have been better.

 

[Nuxxy]

The problem with this is what exactly? Stacker and Chuck Hansen already had the heroic sacrifice part done and dusted; killing Raleigh in Mako's arms would have been needlessly twisting the knife, especially since I took his experience to be learning how to live again, rather than just exist.

Hell I was just grateful that Mako and Raleigh didn't fall in love, for avoiding that horse-shit plot point alone I hold Pacific Rim higher than most summer action films.

Also so glad it didn't turn romantic. For a few seconds at the end it looked close.

I'm all for a more 'fun' movie over the overly-serious stuff we've been having, but I felt the film could have done with a bit of gravitas, something for the audience to emotionally invest in. A heroic sacrifice isn't one if the remainder of the characters (and thereby the audience) don't feel the loss. Any pilot who died fighting kaiju should be considered a heroic sacrifice. But when Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha were taken out no one at home base even appeared shocked. Despite that each of them has crews of 100s, probably tight knit communities. No one angry? Despaired? Crying? Nope let's keep looking at Mako and Raleigh, looking unsurprised.

To me, Raleigh's death could have been symbolic. He could have represented the past, the victims of the years of battling the kaiju. Mako could represent the future, the survivors who owe everything to those who lay down their lives. It could have been a passing of the torch between the generations, a final chance for the past to inspire the future and the future to thank the past. And it would have meant something to the audience.

 

[Hyperactiveman]

And yet I had to work my ass off while Pacific Rim was in the cinemas... Leaving me to go with friends later to see City of Bones, Elysium, Star Trek and Man of Steel.

And in order of me seeing them: terrible, too political, sorta good and really disappointing.

 

[Dunesen]

I wouldn't mind Bob doing an entire episode devoted to his thoughts/problems with Man of Steel if there was any indication he would then drop the matter afterward. But he probably won't. He did a Big Picture griping about South Park a while back and that hasn't stopped him from taking shots at it here and on Twitter. And he already said whatever he needed to say about Into Darkness in that review, but it doesn't stop him from going back to it months later.

Same reason I would like him to do a video about Dark Knight Rises so he can get everything off his chest, but at the same time don't want it because it won't be an end to his complaining about it. And really, when he complains about Dark Knight Rises what the hell is he actually saying? That he didn't like it? That he considered it bad? OK. But explain what you mean. Maybe he'll do that with Man of Steel next week...

And am I the only one who rolled their eyes when Bob got to World's End and he said (paraphrasing) "I can't believe my generation is at the point where it can feel nostalgic about its youth"? Bob is through and through one of those 80's pop culture nostalgia freaks, the people who think everything peaked with the NES, GI Joe and Transformers. THE MAN JUST WROTE A BOOK ABOUT AN 8-BIT GAME! What the hell is this "It's weird to be looking back at our childhood so wistfully" nonsense?

 

[Nuxxy]

I think you make an interesting point, but I think at that point, having Raleigh die would have been pulling a 'Mass Effect 3.' Basically, it would have been a bittersweet ending when a bittersweet ending was, at the end of the day, jarring and kind of inappropriate. In terms of its narrative, Pacific Rim is meant to be a 'Hero's Journey;' there may be causalities, and dreadful things might happen, but in the end everything kind of works out and it's better that way. You shouldn't try to force complexity because it doesn't make your movie instantly deeper, and it can come off as far more idiotic than just having a story that's simple at its core.

I can understand why that might not appeal to everyone, but I think every once in a while, people need levity, and I don't think a film is intellectually bereft for choosing to provide it

Here is probably where we are going to have a diversion of opinions. I saw it more of a story of a battle/war, pulling together against a common foe. The premise of the neural link, Mako and Raleigh's interplay, the friction between Chuck and the Gipsy team, the friction between the scientists - it was all about overcoming differences for the common cause.

If it was a "Hero's Journey", the Hero who Journeyed would have to be Mako. Raleigh didn't really change. In story terms, they made the mistake of "show, don't tell". We didn't really see him change. He spoke about how difficult it would be for him to Drift, how difficult to be so close to someone again, but it never was. Mako had to overcome self-doubt and the doubt of others. She had to conquer her demons and prove herself. Raleigh was her guide, her mentor, but otherwise stayed the same. It's part of the reason I would like the ending of Raleigh dying - to fulfill the hero and inspire her to new heights with his sacrifice.

 

[Arcane Azmadi]

UNBELIEVABLY surprised that Elysium rated so low on the list (#8?!) after all the good stuff you had to say about it, especially in light of some of the stuff in front of it.

Not at ALL surprised that Pacific Rim was #1. Anyone could see that coming a mile off. And I TOTALLY agree.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

The problem with this is what exactly? Stacker and Chuck Hansen already had the heroic sacrifice part done and dusted; killing Raleigh in Mako's arms would have been needlessly twisting the knife, especially since I took his experience to be learning how to live again, rather than just exist.

Hell I was just grateful that Mako and Raleigh didn't fall in love, for avoiding that horse-shit plot point alone I hold Pacific Rim higher than most summer action films.

Also so glad it didn't turn romantic. For a few seconds at the end it looked close.

I'm all for a more 'fun' movie over the overly-serious stuff we've been having, but I felt the film could have done with a bit of gravitas, something for the audience to emotionally invest in. A heroic sacrifice isn't one if the remainder of the characters (and thereby the audience) don't feel the loss. Any pilot who died fighting kaiju should be considered a heroic sacrifice. But when Crimson Typhoon and Cherno Alpha were taken out no one at home base even appeared shocked. Despite that each of them has crews of 100s, probably tight knit communities. No one angry? Despaired? Crying? Nope let's keep looking at Mako and Raleigh, looking unsurprised.

To me, Raleigh's death could have been symbolic. He could have represented the past, the victims of the years of battling the kaiju. Mako could represent the future, the survivors who owe everything to those who lay down their lives. It could have been a passing of the torch between the generations, a final chance for the past to inspire the future and the future to thank the past. And it would have meant something to the audience.

Mako's mentor did die though; Stacker Pentacost was her mentor, Raleigh was her friend and partner. Having him die that point would have been needlessly tragic and undermined the feeling of triumph. The film is built on old school heroics and saw no need to subvert expectations to be deliberately callous to a core character.

The movie is by no means perfect; I was disappointed that I never got to know the Wei Tang brothers and the Kaidanovsky couple.

 

[Nuxxy]

In the Pacific Rim I watched, Stacker Pentecost was her father figure, but Raleigh was the one who walked her through her journey, confronting and overcoming her demons. Doesn't mean he couldn't be her partner/friend/co-pilot too.

I want the triumph to feel undermined. This was a self-described Apocalypse. The emotion I expect after the Apocalypse is relief that it's over and you survived, tinged with sorrow for the fallen; not cheering like your team won the game.

captcha: you're fired! (OK! I will drop the topic now!)

 

[Tim Chuma]

Haven't seen any of these apart from Pacific Rim.

I would say the movie that has had the most impact on me this year would be the Act of Killing where former participants in a genocide re-enact their killings in the style of their favourite movies. This includes a musical interlude singing "Born Free" in front of a waterfall and re-staging their crimes in the style of a 50s noir. It took seven years to film and has Errol Morris and Werner Herzog as the executive producers http://theactofkilling.com/ I did get to hear the direct speak about it during the film festival and ended up writing nineteen pages of notes.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

I want the triumph to feel undermined.

Why? What does deliberately subverting the triumph get you other than audiences going 'Oh, well, that's a tad bleak'. I've had my fill of bleak, I want to go to the movies and watch the heroes kick ass. Not 'getting the girl' was subversion enough for me and one that is in dire need of more use. Deliberately tainting the climactic third act of a film with needless melodrama on the other hand, can do with a rest.

This was a self-described Apocalypse. The emotion I expect after the Apocalypse is relief that it's over and you survived, tinged with sorrow for the fallen; not cheering like your team won the game.

I also recall Stacker giving an utterly rousing speech about cancelling the Apocolypse; having people in a terminal frame of mind while they're supposed to be supporting your efforts to kick the beasts back into their pit and give their masters' a thermonuclear butt-fucking is counter productive. You want them fired up and ready to kick Satan's own Dobermans in the balls until the bitter end.

 

[Nuxxy]

I was going to let it rest, but...

It's a personal view - I just dislike any sort of war scenario where people gloss over the cost or outright forget the fallen. War is horror, always. It should never not be bleak.

Not that the story as a whole can't be fun. Anyone seen Blackadder Goes Forth? It full of silliness and fun, right up until the end of final episode with the big push. The ending was absolutely the right thing to do, even if it wasn't funny.

 

[Jacco]

There was nothing "perfect" about Pacific Rim. At all. Whether you liked it or not is irrelevant. It was not a "good" movie.

 

[Markunator]

Is Pain & Gain really as bad as this review suggests?

There was nothing "perfect" about Pacific Rim. At all. Whether you liked it or not is irrelevant. It was not a "good" movie.

Yes, it was. It was a very good summer movie.