For the Snady rec-a-thon
Aug. 9th, 2013 07:02 pmIt is ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sherrold's birthday today. And as an antidote to the blues, movies_michelle asked that people "post a rec of something, anything, you enjoyed today, whether it was a story, vid, photo, meme, discussion, whatever. Whether it's new or old. If you've been meaning to go back and leave a comment on a story, go do it now, even if it's just to say 'Love this!'"
So, in the spirit of the day, I will gladly rec two movies I just recently got to see!
1) PACIFIC RIM.
Yeah, I know, probably the last fan in the world to see it. :D I enjoyed it! When's the last time I saw an action movie where the fight scenes never felt too long, and where I had a good solid sense of who's where & the fight choreography?? (Answer: far too long ago.)
Plus, interesting worldbuilding; I can totally understand people getting fannish about it (both in-universe and with fandom-fusions), because it had all kinds of tantalizing background and loose ends and itches that could use a good fannish scratch. I love good worldbuilding, especially worldbuilding that doesn't point out/explain everything to us, that lets a lot of stuff just exist underfoot like a world does. It's fun to think about, and to play in.
I like to think Sandy would have very much enjoyed seeing soulbonded pilots riding giant robots punch invading monsters RIGHT IN THE FAAAAACE. \o/
(Also, when Stacker comes out before the final climactic scene, wearing that outfit that I won't specify for fear of spoilers? I feel like I may have ruptured something in my hormone-engineering. PHWOOOOOAAAAAR.)
2) THE CONJURING.
I hadn't heard anything about this film until someone convinced me to go see it with them. And it was a very pleasant surprise!
I have a particular taste in scary movies: I vastly prefer a tone and approach I like to call "creeping dread", as opposed to the more jagged/jumpy types of horror-violence and blood and unstoppable killers and grue. I like a movie to start slow and quiet, and just...slowly...ratchet...the tension...until...*creak*...WHO'S THERE??? O______O
Well, The Conjuring is just my type of movie. It's basically a haunted-house story, where a husband and wife and their daughters move into an isolated old rural house where straaaange things start to happen. \o/ And there's a husband and wife team of paranormal investigators they eventually turn to for help, but the guy-investigator is increasingly worried about the toll their work is taking on the woman-investigator, who is very sensitive to paranormal events/visions.
It's set in 1971, and the art direction, costuming, and sound design are terrific. I love how it looks and how it sounds. It did a very good job at creeping me out, and I live for that! My movie companion ended up curled in a ball with just their eyeballs peeping out through their protective fingers (not because of gore, I must again emphasize, but because of tension and breathless fear and creepiness).
It didn't have a big budget, but all of the money went to great use--the look and sound, as I mentioned, but also the casting. I'm very impressed at the caliber of the cast! They got skilled, experienced pros, and I felt like I was in good hands. Ron Livingston plays the husband in the house and Lili Taylor the wife, and they're great; I also especially liked the performance of Vera Farmiga as one of the investigators.
(Final note: someone else declined to go see the movie with us, because he'd read an article on Salon.com about how it was a thinly-disguised right wing misogynist screed. I paid very close attention to the movie, and I consider myself sensitive to that sort of thing--but honestly, I didn't sense one drop of it, and neither did my companion. The Salon article remains completely baffling to me.)
sherrold's birthday today. And as an antidote to the blues, movies_michelle asked that people "post a rec of something, anything, you enjoyed today, whether it was a story, vid, photo, meme, discussion, whatever. Whether it's new or old. If you've been meaning to go back and leave a comment on a story, go do it now, even if it's just to say 'Love this!'" So, in the spirit of the day, I will gladly rec two movies I just recently got to see!
1) PACIFIC RIM.
Yeah, I know, probably the last fan in the world to see it. :D I enjoyed it! When's the last time I saw an action movie where the fight scenes never felt too long, and where I had a good solid sense of who's where & the fight choreography?? (Answer: far too long ago.)
Plus, interesting worldbuilding; I can totally understand people getting fannish about it (both in-universe and with fandom-fusions), because it had all kinds of tantalizing background and loose ends and itches that could use a good fannish scratch. I love good worldbuilding, especially worldbuilding that doesn't point out/explain everything to us, that lets a lot of stuff just exist underfoot like a world does. It's fun to think about, and to play in.
I like to think Sandy would have very much enjoyed seeing soulbonded pilots riding giant robots punch invading monsters RIGHT IN THE FAAAAACE. \o/
(Also, when Stacker comes out before the final climactic scene, wearing that outfit that I won't specify for fear of spoilers? I feel like I may have ruptured something in my hormone-engineering. PHWOOOOOAAAAAR.)
2) THE CONJURING.
I hadn't heard anything about this film until someone convinced me to go see it with them. And it was a very pleasant surprise!
I have a particular taste in scary movies: I vastly prefer a tone and approach I like to call "creeping dread", as opposed to the more jagged/jumpy types of horror-violence and blood and unstoppable killers and grue. I like a movie to start slow and quiet, and just...slowly...ratchet...the tension...until...*creak*...WHO'S THERE??? O______O
Well, The Conjuring is just my type of movie. It's basically a haunted-house story, where a husband and wife and their daughters move into an isolated old rural house where straaaange things start to happen. \o/ And there's a husband and wife team of paranormal investigators they eventually turn to for help, but the guy-investigator is increasingly worried about the toll their work is taking on the woman-investigator, who is very sensitive to paranormal events/visions.
It's set in 1971, and the art direction, costuming, and sound design are terrific. I love how it looks and how it sounds. It did a very good job at creeping me out, and I live for that! My movie companion ended up curled in a ball with just their eyeballs peeping out through their protective fingers (not because of gore, I must again emphasize, but because of tension and breathless fear and creepiness).
It didn't have a big budget, but all of the money went to great use--the look and sound, as I mentioned, but also the casting. I'm very impressed at the caliber of the cast! They got skilled, experienced pros, and I felt like I was in good hands. Ron Livingston plays the husband in the house and Lili Taylor the wife, and they're great; I also especially liked the performance of Vera Farmiga as one of the investigators.
(Final note: someone else declined to go see the movie with us, because he'd read an article on Salon.com about how it was a thinly-disguised right wing misogynist screed. I paid very close attention to the movie, and I consider myself sensitive to that sort of thing--but honestly, I didn't sense one drop of it, and neither did my companion. The Salon article remains completely baffling to me.)
