Latest movie you watched (1-10 scale)

[spacehamster]

I'm still sorting through my thoughts for a proper comment on Blade Runner (will probably watch it again at a better theater as well, maybe this week already), but here's my #1 complaint:

That scene with the underground replicant army was GODDAMN RETARDED. Came out of nowhere, added nothing to the story, didn't make any sense. I have no idea why that's even in the movie.

Anyway, I'm guessing the reason this isn't doing better is pretty much the same as with the first one - it deals with its themes of identity and humanity a bit more openly so you don't have to go looking for them, but at the end of the day, it's still too cerebral and too slow. Probably more so now than when the original came out. It's a shame, but hardly surprising, and for once I'm glad Ridley Scott's a stubborn sumbitch who can pretty much do whatever he wants, like blow an ungodly amount of money on an unmarketable movie.

[ghost boner]

I'm still sorting through my thoughts for a proper comment on Blade Runner (will probably watch it again at a better theater as well, maybe this week already), but here's my #1 complaint:

That scene with the underground replicant army was GODDAMN RETARDED. Came out of nowhere, added nothing to the story, didn't make any sense. I have no idea why that's even in the movie.

Anyway, I'm guessing the reason this isn't doing better is pretty much the same as with the first one - it deals with its themes of identity and humanity a bit more openly so you don't have to go looking for them, but at the end of the day, it's still too cerebral and too slow. Probably more so now than when the original came out. It's a shame, but hardly surprising, and for once I'm glad Ridley Scott's a stubborn sumbitch who can pretty much do whatever he wants, like blow an ungodly amount of money on an unmarketable movie.

on yer spoiler:

i thought the same thing but i will keep in there just for those ripples reflecting on the walls

[RY4N]

SPOILERSPOILER_SHOW

i think that scene was more about ryan gosling learning hes actually a replicant, and all those replicants share that same memory. Maybe the next blade runner will focus on a replicant revolution, like the planet of apers rebootle

[The Real MPD]

It Comes at Night - 8

[spacehamster]

Okay, I'm gonna try this now. This whole post is one big Blade Runner spoiler and the spoiler tags aren't working and fuck using a tiny font, so if you haven't seen it yet, don't read this.

First of all, I really do think anyone in their right mind needs to acknowledge that the movie is about as good as we could've possibly hoped. Visually it's absolutely fantastic, and it's very close to the tone and pace of the original. It's also a very delicately handled sequel, not a "reboot", that manages to continue Deckard's story in an interesting way, without idiotic retcons or otherwise shitting all over the first movie. None of this can be said about Scott's new Alien movies, so it's certainly more than a pleasant surprise.

Things I liked:
Visually, the movie actually picks up a few cues from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. The desert scenes especially were really, really cool to see if you're familiar with the novel, and the city also seemed less crowded and more like Dick's version where basically nobody's left because Earth has become nearly uninhabitable.

K's "relationship" with the Joi app is the best idea in the whole movie for me. His pathetic obsession with this thing reminded me a lot of the way book Deckard takes his animal price guide everywhere, so I took that as another little nod to the source material. And the soul-crushing moment towards the end when he sees the holographic ad for it and realizes that the "relationship" he thought he'd built with the AI based on their shared memories was all bullshit was basically my favorite moment in the movie because it plays on the core theme of what identity is without explaining itself for a second. Really smart stuff.

Speaking of which, I already mentioned this before, but man, was it nice to see an intelligent movie that doesn't constantly feel the need to explain itself to the slackjaws in the audience. They don't make too many of those anymore. Another great example is that reverse version of the Voight-Kampff test K has to submit to that really only makes sense the second time it happens.

I've never seen Ryan Gosling in anything before, but he really nailed this part. For some reason I actually bought that he's not a real human and confused by what his own existence even means. I also loved the idea that he knows his memories are fake.

All of the violence was great. The guns are terrifying in exactly the kind of way you would expect Deckard's gun from the original to have developed in 30 years.

Basically all the characters except Wallace are great. Everyone's in the story for a good reason, everyone has clearly fleshed out personalities and motivations that set them apart from the others.

Also, Fancher actually remembered that he needed to be writing a Noir story, and if anything, this one did a better job with the detective stuff than the original.

Things I didn't like:
Despite what I said about the movie not explaining itself too much, it's still all a bit too on the nose for me. One of the best things about Blade Runner is that it doesn't hit you over the head with its existential questions, they're just sort of there, and a lot of people miss them (or think they're "easter eggs" - seriously, Ross. SERIOUSLY.) This one is very overtly about K having an identity crisis, and while I don't hate the idea that it's about him being led to believe that he's more than he thought he was, it all kind of seemed too much like taking the original conceit of the replicant who thinks he's human and turning it on its head because, eh, we have to come up with something new, so let's just do the original in reverse. It still works, and maybe I've just thought about Blade Runner too much and would've seen the strings no matter what, but it bothered me. K finding out that he was wrong about everything was cool, though, and seemed very much like something Dick would've written.

CGI Rachael was absolutely horrible, even worse than CGI Tarkin in Rogue One, and while Ford acted his ass off to make the scene work, it just didn't, and while I can see why they wanted to have it in the story, the movie would've probably been better off without it.

Wallace is a shitty character, and it's not Jared Leto's fault. This is another instance where something from the original (old man Tyrell) needed to be replaced, and they just decided to go with the opposite. The scene where he kills the newborn replicant woman was kinda ok, I guess, mostly saved by that actress.

Again, the underground replicant army was fucking retarded. Fine, so that scene was there for K to realize that he was wrong about Deckard being his daddy, but honestly, the only way they could pull that off was by shoehorning that ridiculous one-eyed lady into the story and having the replicant hooker suddenly help K for no reason after she planted that tracer on him? Ugh.

All the religious language, especially implying that Deckard's kid is some sort of replicant Jesus. I can sort of accept Wallace talking this way because he thinks of himself as god, but that's not particularly clever either, and it wasn't just him.

The movie takes 3 hours to get to its ending, and then suddenly things happen for no apparent reason because there's no time to develop them properly. How the fuck did K know where they were taking Deckard? How did he figure out that the memory creator is Deckard's kid? I was okay with that ending scene, but man, the guy takes like 10 minutes of screen time to match genetic codes that don't explain much of anything, and then that just comes out of nowhere. Really unfortunate for a story that's otherwise so well put together.

Bottom line:
On its own merits, it's certainly a great movie. As a Blade Runner sequel, it's respectful enough of both the movie and the novel so that it's hard to find fault with it even if you're like me and you love both way, way too much and have thought about them way, way too much. But all it really does is take cues and ideas from the two and play with them a little without really adding anything new. That's fine, and it does it really well, but it's the reason why I can't say I think the two are anywhere near equal. I'm just glad it doesn't suck, and I'll happily watch it many more times.

Okay, I'll stop now.

[RY4N]

2049 isnt without a few minor flaws, but i cant nitpick something so great. ill take all the cold and dour big bidget cyberpunk shit i can get.

[spacehamster]

ill take all the cold and dour big bidget cyberpunk shit i can get.

This is why I forgave the new Ghost in the Shell movie for just about everything.

Anyway, yeah, the tl;dr is, 2049 is great, especially if you're into cyberpunk. But I can't say "Blade Runner" without spazzing out for half an hour, as I'm sure you've noticed.

[spacehamster]

[Liam Spengler]

Shame (1968) - 9
El mar la mar - 6
Untitled (2017) - 6

[riley-o]

Icarus - 9/10

[Ray]

But I can't say "Blade Runner" without spazzing out for half an hour, as I'm sure you've noticed.

I noticed it the last time we were at Meyer's

Seeing it tonight on IMAX. Gonna get baked beforehand. You can call me Blaze Runner lol

[The Real MPD]

6 Days - 6

[spacehamster]

I noticed it the last time we were at Meyer's

See, I don't even remember that. I probably blacked out halfway into something or other I said about Sammon's book.

[ghost boner]

i saw it again. i forgive a lot of what i didnt like and its now a 9. a solid 9.

[FVBTVS]

i saw it again. i forgive a lot of what i didnt like and its now a 9. a solid 9.

[Necrophilic Mallard]

I've never seen Ryan Gosling in anything before, but he really nailed this part. For some reason I actually bought that he's not a real human

you should. Not because he's great, but because it will feel like he's a replicant in every fucking thing he's ever done.

Totally agree on the Joi stuff.

solid 7.

[The Real MPD]

I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore - 7.5
A Dark Song - 7.5

[Liam Spengler]

A Dangerous Method - 6
The Kiss of the Vampire - 6
Banned from Television - 7

[The Real MPD]

Pilgrimage - 7

[riley-o]

Wonder Woman - 6.5/10

The love story worked really well, and Gal Gadot was a decent lead. I've always been a lot more into Marvel than DC though and that's definitely carrying over into these cinematic ventures as well.

[The Real MPD]

A Ghost Story - 5.5

[Ray]

Blade Runner - 7.5
I agree with just about everything spacehamster said...as well as Necrometer when it comes to movies about indistinguishable androids.
Compounded by the fact that the much older replicants Tyrell produced were capable of...childbirth? Alllllright, whatever makes this new story work I guess.
Did I miss the reason why they just left K alive in Deckard's hideout? Did they think he was dead? That was so stupid.
K breaking the back of that thug over his knee was sweet.
Thought they got a bit overzealous with the sound design, at least in IMAX. The city looked great, but I really appreciated all the settings outside of it, sooo well done.

[The Real MPD]

Lifeforce - 8.5

that fucking Mancini score...

[Wang Mandu]

Waiting in the theater for Blade Runner and it's me and one other dude. Thankfully he's sitting far behind me or he'd probably want to talk.

Post viewing: Loved it. Fucking loved it. The run time flew by and I might go see it again this week if I have the time. The world design was incredible and Fallout San Diego was superb. I even loved Leto! It's not surprising that it's tanking at the box office but general movie goers are morons so to be expected. That ending .

Edit: Reading that they wanted David Bowie for Wallace, that would have been something for sure.

[Liam Spengler]

Sweet Movie - 9
The Lost City of Z - 8
The Vampire Lovers - 7
The Ballad of Shirley Collins - 7