Movie opinions thread (what have you seen, what did you think?)

evil wasabi

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Good comedy often is like a church sermon. Less the preaching and more the weaving the personal and the philosophical in to storytelling. With dick jokes strewn throughout. Most of the best to ever do it (Carlin, Hicks, Pryor, etc.) were masters at that skill.
I got the feeling he was trying to channel Pryor, but he doesn’t have the same sadness. Idk. He did have that molestation joke in The Closer, and silver spring has a massive sex offender problem according to the map. But as for sermonizing - Dave could be funnier if he mixed it up.
Just didn’t jive with me.
 

Burning Fight!!

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Good comedy often is like a church sermon. Less the preaching and more the weaving the personal and the philosophical in to storytelling. With dick jokes strewn throughout. Most of the best to ever do it (Carlin, Hicks, Pryor, etc.) were masters at that skill.
It's true, and that's why your average open mic comedian's routine seems flat and by the numbers, the personal is too banal, there's nothing "philosophical" and all you have is dick jokes.
 

terry.330

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The problem is if Dave is taking the time out of his special to address all this bullshit then those people have already won. He should have ignored them and just got up on stage, killed it and rode off into the sunset. That's far more professional and that's the exact amount of attention those whiney idiots deserve.
 

SouthtownKid

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The problem is if Dave is taking the time out of his special to address all this bullshit then those people have already won. He should have ignored them and just got up on stage, killed it and rode off into the sunset. That's far more professional and that's the exact amount of attention those whiney idiots deserve.
Exactly. He's uncancellable as long as he's making enough people laugh as much as he's been doing all these years. But once he acknowledges it, he raises these nobodies to a level that gives the impression their opinion on comedy is as valid as his. At which point, like you say, his defeat becomes a fait accompli.
 

StaticX

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Well I’d rather be laughing with the sermon then sitting down for soft applause (woke comedians)
I can’t remember the last time I laughed like that. I work down the street from the Netflix offices so it’s going to be interesting to see all of the employees who were offended and protesting next week.
 
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wyo

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The problem is if Dave is taking the time out of his special to address all this bullshit then those people have already won. He should have ignored them and just got up on stage, killed it and rode off into the sunset. That's far more professional and that's the exact amount of attention those whiney idiots deserve.
Well said. He was killing it for the first third of the special then spent the rest talking about LBGTQ drama. Still good material and a powerful conclusion but I wish he would have taken your advice.
 

Syn

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Halloween Kills

More of the same including an unsatisfying ending that more than leaves the door open for another film.
 

evil wasabi

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Jesus Christ there’s a lot of people who want their comedy delivered in a homily.
 

HornheaDD

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Religious comedy is the BEST comedy, wasabers.... urryone knows that.
 

terry.330

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The Void- The worst kind of movie, one that almost gets everything right. The idea is there, the visuals, the setting etc. It's all there it just doesn't come together. Bad script, casting, acting, pacing, editing and cinematography while not quite ruining it detract just enough from all of it's strengths to make it frustrating. I will say that some (not all) of the practical effects and there are a lot are excellent but just like everythignelse there is enough wrong to keep them from being great. The creature design in particular is super awkward and at times cheap looking.

Anyways, it's about a group of people stuck in a rural hospital under attack by a cult who discover that beneath the hospital is essentially a portal to another dimension and the cult leader is trying to open it to let out Hellraiser/Lovecraftian beings. I would still recommend this despite it many flaws as enough of it is enjoyable or just cool/weird enough to make it mostly worthwhile.

The Velvet Underground- I actually couldn't finish this one, had to shut it off with about 40 min. left. The constant noise and the way that it's edited with split screen montages is a perfect recipe for a major headache. Also from what I did see this would have much better off if it had focused more on Lou Reed and less on the whole NYC mid 60s/Warhol scene. It took a good half an hour to even get to formation of the band.
 

100proof

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Well said. He was killing it for the first third of the special then spent the rest talking about LBGTQ drama. Still good material and a powerful conclusion but I wish he would have taken your advice.

Standing up to censors and attacking taboo subjects is one of the pillars of great comedy and there are few subjects as taboo right now as the sickness on social media. Comedians have been trying to wrap their head around how best to tackle it for the last several years but no one's really captured it yet. I don't think Dave nailed it either but it's an important part of the culture right now and comedians will be part of the course correction that fixes it. It's not "talking about LGBT drama"... it's about human communication and figuring out how to separate the real struggle of marginalized groups from the performative outrage.
 
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100proof

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Jesus Christ there’s a lot of people who want their comedy delivered in a homily.

Unless you're the rare gifted joke-writer like Dangerfield or Mitch Hedburg, the vast majority of great comedians are charismatic storytellers... it doesn't mean I need to have my politics or my worldview dictated to me by said storytelling. Christ, Sam Kinison WAS a preacher before becoming a comedian.

It's not exactly a complicated metaphor.
 

fake

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Agreed about The Void. Cool direction but everything else stinks. Big missed opportunity.

I watched Jennifer’s Body after realizing the director also did the Invitation. I’m sure a lot of it went over my head as a guy so I need to read more about it.
 

SouthtownKid

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Unless you're the rare gifted joke-writer like Dangerfield or Mitch Hedburg, the vast majority of great comedians are charismatic storytellers... it doesn't mean I need to have my politics or my worldview dictated to me by said storytelling. Christ, Sam Kinison WAS a preacher before becoming a comedian.

It's not exactly a complicated metaphor.
I get what you're trying to say, but you have to understand how the rest of us are taking it. Actual sermonizing has taken over (and is ruining) a lot of modern comedy. You know, the kind of "comedy" that is broken up by applause instead of laughter. And you're conflating storytelling with sermonizing.

Again, I get what you're trying to say, but surely you can understand why some are leery of your word choice.
 

100proof

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I get what you're trying to say, but you have to understand how the rest of us are taking it. Actual sermonizing has taken over (and is ruining) a lot of modern comedy. You know, the kind of "comedy" that is broken up by applause instead of laughter. And you're conflating storytelling with sermonizing.

Again, I get what you're trying to say, but surely you can understand why some are leery of your word choice.

Perhaps but I don't make a habit of talking down to people on here unless they're obvious simpletons incapable of nuance. I use the language I use because I assume that most of the people who would respond to me (like you and wasabi) would understand that the kind of "comedy" you're talking about is part of the problem and in no way representative of comedy as an institution.

I would agree that comedy writers' rooms and improv have been largely taken over by the identity cult (because those fields are cliquish by nature) but the most respected names in traditional stand-up (which remains a solitary pursuit) remain people who laugh at or, at best, ignore the hyper-partisanship of social media. The hyper-woke comics I see who get 10,000 retweets or make it to the top of Reddit frequently are generally middles toiling away in obscurity.
 

BryLmoo

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Halloween Kills was kinda just okay for me. The focus was on Haddonfield. Fucking Jamie Lee Curtis could've just stayed at home for this one. Anthony Michael Hall was a total bull in a china shop, and not very good (IMO). Still satisfying for the kills and atmosphere, but not anywhere near as good as the reboot. Still interested to see how they end the Trilogy.
 

evil wasabi

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Perhaps but I don't make a habit of talking down to people on here unless they're obvious simpletons incapable of nuance. I use the language I use because I assume that most of the people who would respond to me (like you and wasabi) would understand that the kind of "comedy" you're talking about is part of the problem and in no way representative of comedy as an institution.

I would agree that comedy writers' rooms and improv have been largely taken over by the identity cult (because those fields are cliquish by nature) but the most respected names in traditional stand-up (which remains a solitary pursuit) remain people who laugh at or, at best, ignore the hyper-partisanship of social media. The hyper-woke comics I see who get 10,000 retweets or make it to the top of Reddit frequently are generally middles toiling away in obscurity.
I am not sure we are talking about the same thing. I just don’t think Chappelle is funny anymore. I don’t like his stand up style. There’s no build up of pressure for me. I don’t think other comedians feel like they’re all preachers. This is going to probably be unpopular but Kevin Hart is better.
 

100proof

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Yeah, that response was more for STK.

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. Comedy is probably THE most subjective of art forms. I personally didn't laugh much at The Closer (particularly compared to his old specials) and I mentioned that these Netflix specials have been more than a little self-aggrandizing. However, I respect the shit out of what he attempted to do. Five specials in four years is no joke (particularly during our current climate) and he went after the business and a lot of modern culture's sacred cows. Is what he said going to have any lasting impact? Probably not but I feel that way about pretty much everything at this point because there's no longer a shared monoculture and no matter how "viral" something gets, 90+% of the population will never see it.

Once again, entitled to your opinion. Kevin Hart's a funny guy and there's a reason he's as wildly successful as he is but at the end of the day, dude got cancelled because he's a celebrity who wants to continue collecting checks to make bad movies.

Dave Chappelle is a comedian... and no matter how much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments the internet does, he's gonna keep on doing what he does. Showing up at random clubs and performing 3-hour sets to largely standing ovations.
 

fake

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I watched The Closer and now get what STK is saying. I did think it was funnier than the previous Netflix special though. That was a dud. I don't think I even laughed. At least with this one I LMBOd 4 or 5 times.
 

DevilRedeemed

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Watched Prisoners again the other day and I know I shouldn't as it invariably haunts me for some time after. As imperfect as it is, as entertainment as well as art, I think it's my favourite film of the last 10 years. Villeneuve at his stripped down best (followed by Sicario without a doubt).
Johan Johanson is sorely missed. What a soundtrack, how effectively it was sewn into the movie.
 
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