[AFGNCAAP]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Well guys, I found another trailer for a movie I think is definitely one to watch for. In addition to The New World, Broken Flowers, King Kong, etc...this one could be really good. I'm SLIGHTLY biased because I'm a huge Tom Wilkinson fan (anyone who has seen In the Bedroom must become a huge Wilkinson fan...he's good in Eternal Sunshine as well), but it's also from the writer of Gosford Park so... Let me know what you think.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_se...ies/large.html

Hm... I've liked Wilkinson ever since Shakespeare in Love (I suppose you are aware of this one coming, too, Villain?) but was not that impressed by Fellowes' Gosford Park, I'm afraid - it felt like a collection of good, even great scenes, yet rather hollow movie as a whole. But the trailer you linked to seems promising.

Anyway, aside from already mentioned titles (especially Corpse Bride and Broken Flowers), I'm interested in...

• A History of Violence - another Cannes favourite, this one from David Cronenberg, whose each next film I either love or hate.
• Mirrormask - Neil Gaiman's prose brought to life by Henson Studios experts.
• The Skeleton Key - this looks like a generic horror, true. But keep in mind the director, one Iain Softley, who makes his every movie as much interesting as it is totally different from anything he had previously done (from Hackers to Wings of the Dove to K-Pax).
• ...and quite a few others, but I was too lazy to search outside the Apple's trailers page.

[Once A Villain]

AFGNCAAP, I liked Wilkinson in Shakespeare in Love, but In the Bedroom I just thought he was sensational. I thought he stole the show from Sissy Spacek and Marissa Tomei, both of whom got a ton of praise. As for Gosford Park, I thought the writing was pretty solid, but I agree the film wasn't so hot. My reason for disliking it was simply the fact that it was an inferior version of a film called The Rules of the Game. Heh.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by gillyruless

Highly intrigued! It looks and feels like a movie that I'm going to love. It's so cool to have a film buff on the only internet forum that I regularly visit. Otherwise, I might have totally missed out on this movie. I've been a fan of Tom Wilkinson since Full Monty.

Glad you liked it gilly. I hope it's good. I also hope the title doesn't make things as obvious as I've suddenly realized it might... You know, Separate Lies. Hers could be the affair, his could be that HE hit the guy on the bike and he tries to frame the Rupert Everett character for it. Hmmm... Still, what is most important is HOW it's done. The film looks to be more of a character drama where the catalyst is the death of the man. And Wilkinson looks brilliant again...I don't know what it is about that guy but I love to watch him on a movie screen. Aside from giving a performance in In the Bedroom that would be fantastic even if he was American, one must understand that he's British with a British accent, but you can't tell at all in that film. He was even one of the only high points of that awful Roland Emmerich film, The Patriot.

Originally Posted by mag

SUCK!

Well, it doesn't have Christian Bale zipping around in a black cape, I'll grant you that. It doesn't have Materia or a Lifestream and characters with blocks for hands... But it looks to be quite a fine, realistic character study nonetheless. Of course, until I actually see it, I'm just hoping.

[AFGNCAAP]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

AFGNCAAP, I liked Wilkinson in Shakespeare in Love, but In the Bedroom I just thought he was sensational.

Well, a lead role is a lead role.

My reason for disliking it was simply the fact that it was an inferior version of a film called The Rules of the Game. Heh.

Renoir's one? I missed it on TV the other day... *Sigh*

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by AFGNCAAP

Renoir's one? I missed it on TV the other day... *Sigh*

That's the one. What a terrific film.

[Henke]

The only upcoming movies you know of are often the big Hollywood movies that has budgets enough to have commercials long before the movie opens. That makes the amount and types of movies you can get excited about in advanced pretty limited. With that said, I don't really know of many upcoming movies that I think looks interesting. But I will deffinately see The New World, A History of Violence, Elizabethtown and King Kong.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by Henke

The only upcoming movies you know of are often the big Hollywood movies that has budgets enough to have commercials long before the movie opens. That makes the amount and types of movies you can get excited about in advanced pretty limited. With that said, I don't really know of many upcoming movies that I think looks interesting. But I will deffinately see The New World, A History of Violence, Elizabethtown and King Kong.

Henke, you do have a point. A lot of the films I love have no advertising budget, and therefore...no advertising. But at the moment I am just getting geared up for films that do have ads that seem better than most ads.

[mag]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Well, it doesn't have Christian Bale zipping around in a black cape, I'll grant you that. It doesn't have Materia or a Lifestream and characters with blocks for hands... But it looks to be quite a fine, realistic character study nonetheless. Of course, until I actually see it, I'm just hoping.

Hey, I never said I don't like a good drama either. It's just that most dramas aren't that good. But okay. Maybe "suck" was too strong a word. This movie doesn't suck per se. It just has suck-like characteristics.

And speaking of Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children comes out next month.

mag

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by mag

Hey, I never said I don't like a good drama either. It's just that most dramas aren't that good. But okay. Maybe "suck" was too strong a word. This movie doesn't suck per se. It just has suck-like characteristics.

Most Hollywood dramas aren't good. Heh.

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by mag

And speaking of Final Fantasy VII, Advent Children comes out next month.

By the way, this is off the subject of the thread, but have you tried the Grandia games mag? I'm struggling with whether I should get Grandia 3 or not. I'm trying to stop playing RPGs since the vast majority of them are terrible, and the good ones just make me want to play MMORPGs (which I simply can't do anymore for reasons of addiction and the way they drain the lives out of otherwise normal, good people). Still, back when I was big on RPGs my favorite companies were tri-Ace (Valkyrie Profile, Star Ocean series), Game Arts (Lunar series and Grandia series), Level 5 (for Dark Cloud 2 alone), and Enix (for the Dragon Quest games).

I think the Grandia games have one of the greatest combat systems ever seen in RPGs. The fights are challenging and fun. So now that Grandia 3 is out in Japan I find myself wanting to import it (I imported the first Grandia for Sega Saturn when I was about 17 years old, ha ha). I was curious on your thoughts about this series, if you've played it. For the record, Grandia II is a more streamlined game and not nearly as good as the first Grandia (3 is supposedly more like 1). Also, this is me being picky, but the Sega Saturn Grandia was better than the Playstation version.

Oh and one more thing, I remember once you said, "...I've played other RPGs. I have yet to come across a problem in any RPG where leveling up isn't the solution." This is actually a common opinion, but it's not the case with some RPGs, including the Dragon Quest games. Have you played them? You might not like them because they aren't strong on story (most RPGs really aren't as far as I'm concerned anyway), but the gameplay is very cleverly designed. What reminded me of this is a review by Ian Kelley for Dragon Quest VIII, which he claims ruins the Dragon Quest series. He says:

"The second biggest problem in the game is the difficulty level. Dragon Quest games have generally been known for their strategic battles; you have to fight smarter, not harder. Level building rarely got you anywhere; you had to use your skills and spells wisely to win. Not in DQ8, though; it's ridiculously easy for a DQ game. In fact it's the only DQ game in recent years where the typical "Attack, Attack, Heal, Repeat" strategy actually works. Of course, with so many of the support skills from DQ6/7 removed, there isn't a whole lot of room for the creative strategies you could use in earlier games in the first place. Buff spells are a nicety but not a necessity. (and if you do use them, the battles become so pathetically easy it's not even funny) I guess if you don't like your games to put up much of a fight this can be seen as a positive thing, but I found it annoying. This is the first DQ game I've ever made it through without having my party get unceremoniously squashed at least once."

Anyway, I just wanted to hear your opinion on the Grandia series or DQ series or whatever... I really want Grandia 3 damn it, but it might open up the flood gates again. Argh.

[BenjaminBunny]

It isn't coming out until 2007, but for those who care (like me), New Line Cinema will release a film adapted from the first of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. (The Golden Compass in the United States and The Northern Lights everywhere else.)

[Ninja Dodo]

I think the best way to find out about cool movies is to just browse the quicktime trailers page constantly. I've noticed a lot of films there that I would've probably missed otherwise... not been there in a while though. I think I'll go and check if there's anything interesting on.

[Once A Villain]

Kolzig, good call on Grizzly Man by the way. I wasn't even aware that Herzog was making another picture, and all of a sudden I found out a few days ago... I want to see this documentary now. Herzog is awesome, and the subject (Treadwell) looks fascinating. I also agree with Herzog's view of nature. Almost all of his films can be condensed into one message: nature is cruel. This man, Timothy Treadwell, looks like he simply doesn't understand that. At the same time, he's very passionate and maybe a little crazy. I can't wait to see this.

[AFGNCAAP]

Something different than the usual Hollywood blockbuster, then. A second film from the mastermind behind the beautiful, puzzling, self-referential and endearing piece of cinema - Reconstruction, Christoffer Boe. The trailer is in Danish, so most of you won't understand a word from the dialogues. But look at it, just look at it, guys.

Allegro (right-click to save; 7.5 MB of size)

[mag]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Anyway, I just wanted to hear your opinion on the Grandia series or DQ series or whatever...

Didn't even notice that post until just now...

Anyway, I haven't played either of those. Though they both look pretty good. The DQ8 combat system sounds interesting, although I've heard RPG developers talk about how their game focuses on strategy before. Usually, it still comes down to leveling up.

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

I'm trying to stop playing RPGs since the vast majority of them are terrible, and the good ones just make me want to play MMORPGs (which I simply can't do anymore for reasons of addiction and the way they drain the lives out of otherwise normal, good people).

I get addicted to regular RPGs.

Oh well. I'd rather be addicted to a game I only have to pay for once than an MMORPG.

mag

[Once A Villain]

Originally Posted by mag

Anyway, I haven't played either of those. Though they both look pretty good. The DQ8 combat system sounds interesting, although I've heard RPG developers talk about how their game focuses on strategy before. Usually, it still comes down to leveling up.

Leveling up does help in the Grandia games, but the battles still require a lot more strategy than in a FF game (unless we are talking FF Tactics here, which is obviously more "tactical" than a regular FF game). It also takes much longer to level in a Grandia game, and the levels mean less (in a FF game you can get to LVL 99 pretty easily while you generally beat a Grandia game in the 30s).

As for the DQ games, especially 6 and 7, you have bosses that are far more powerful than your team is when you face them. You must use a good combination of Jobs and skills to win. Leveling up probably means even less in a DQ game than it means in Grandia. Don't get me wrong, leveling is important and can help you win, but it has nowhere near the effect that it does in the FF games. In the FF games you can die on a boss, level for 20 minutes, then go back and CRUSH the same boss. Doesn't happen in Grandia or DQ in my experience.

Originally Posted by mag

Oh well. I'd rather be addicted to a game I only have to pay for once than an MMORPG.

Right on. That's why I don't play MMORPGs anymore.

EDIT: Whoops. I didn't read that correctly. The reason I don't play MMORPGs has nothing to do with the money. Just the TIME. A regular RPG you can complete in a comparatively reasonable amount of time. Not so with MMORPGs.

[mag]

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

In the FF games you can die on a boss, level for 20 minutes, then go back and CRUSH the same boss. Doesn't happen in Grandia or DQ in my experience.

That's cool in a way, because it means that the game is more about skill than it is just simple persistence. But on the other hand, one of the great things about playing RPGs is getting your character up to near godlike levels so you can go around the world beating up everybody. If you lose that, it kind of takes away from the sense of achievement...

Originally Posted by Once A Villain

Right on. That's why I don't play MMORPGs anymore.

Trust me. If I wasn't poor, I'd be playing World of WarCraft right now. But seeing as that would likely bleed a video game addict like me dry, I'll just have to stick with my Neverwinter Crack.

mag

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by mag

That's cool in a way, because it means that the game is more about skill than it is just simple persistence. But on the other hand, one of the great things about playing RPGs is getting your character up to near godlike levels so you can go around the world beating up everybody. If you lose that, it kind of takes away from the sense of achievement...

I've always found this the least fun aspect of playing an RPG. If there's nothing I like less when I meet a boss, it's backtracking so that I can hit rats for several hours (what kind of preparation for fighting a boss is that?) and then go back and kill him. I'd far rather that the fights required skill within the battle to win, rather than just the patience of a saint.

[saucyminx]

I'm looking forward to Alex Rider: Stormbreaker movie next year, based on Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books.

[mag]

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you THE movie of 2006: Snakes on a Plane

mag