Matt Reeves to direct "War for the Planet of the Apes" - Part 1

[scarlet-witch]

Is it bad I'm seeing this movie in 24 hours and I'm still over here thirsty for spoilers?

 

[Broseph44]

Got my ticket for Saturday. Just re-watched Rise. Been a while, still holds do me as a great start to the trilogy/franchise and our heroes journey. Has some wonderful moments. Gonna watch Dawn tomorrow night.

 

[titansupes]

I see it's time for me to check out of this thread for a couple of weeks.

 

[Marvolo]

My theater decided to only give this three 2D showtimes...early morning and 11PM.

 

[terry78]

I've been noticing that in the past few years regarding showtimes. I actually opt to find movies that aren't being shown in 3D just for that alone sometimes.

 

[TheVileOne]

Are movies still even being shot in 3D anymore by anyone other than Michael Bay?

 

[TheSmoothKnight]

I just got out of it, amazing movie.

 

[Boom]

Anyone get the Shape of Water trailer with their showing tonight?

 

[scarlet-witch]

Emojis

Spoiler

 

[redfirebird2008]

Are movies still even being shot in 3D anymore by anyone other than Michael Bay?

Cameron of course with the 20 Avatar sequels in development.

 

[Kreem Pi]

Other than Cameron does anyone else care about 3d anymore?

 

[TheSmoothKnight]

This movie with all special effects, makes me hate Michael Bay's Transformers movies even more. Not all about explosion and stupid jokes, you actually care about the characters.

 

[Marvolo]

I've been noticing that in the past few years regarding showtimes. I actually opt to find movies that aren't being shown in 3D just for that alone sometimes.

It was very rare in my area. I can count on one hand the number of times this has happened in the last decade. But AMC bought Carmike and things have started changing at my local cinema. An increase in 3D showings is one of those changes.

I used to tolerate it and even liked some 3D if the film was shot in 3D, but now Im near sighted in one eye and far sighted in the other eye. My ability to see the 3D is hit or miss and it gives me awful headaches. No movie is worth that headache.

 

[Marvolo]

Other than Cameron does anyone else care about 3d anymore?

Everyone else in the industry including manufacturers are starting to change their focus to 4K which cant do 3D. Im sure 3D will experience a mild resurgence if Cameron ever releases his 50 Avatar sequels but he seems to be the main pusher of that obnoxious format. And even he is shifting his focus towards high frame rates which are only possible at home with 4K.

 

[redfirebird2008]

I like the way trends have been going with my local movie theaters lately. Way more 2D showtimes than back in 2010-2012 when you had to struggle to see a movie in 2D. Toy Story 3 wasn't offered in 2D at all for my area and Avengers 2D version played on the tiniest screen in the complex. Nowadays there is at least usually some PLF showtimes in 2D and plenty of regular screens in 2D as well.

I just really wish IMAX would stop pushing 3D so hard. They are digital projectors. You can switch them to 2D for half your showtimes, but they are too lazy for that. It's a huge turn-off for a large segment of their potential audience. I love large format. I cannot stand 3D. I would gladly pay extra for 2D IMAX vs. 3D IMAX. 99% of the IMAX releases do not offer 2D shows, which is lousy for the consumer. I tend to stick with Regal's RPX format in 2D.

 

[BatLobster]

I just really wish IMAX would stop pushing 3D so hard. They are digital projectors. You can switch them to 2D for half your showtimes, but they are too lazy for that. It's a huge turn-off for a large segment of their potential audience. I love large format. I cannot stand 3D. I would gladly pay extra for 2D IMAX vs. 3D IMAX. 99% of the IMAX releases do not offer 2D shows, which is lousy for the consumer. I tend to stick with Regal's RPX format in 2D.

Totally agreed. I still find it utterly unacceptable that Force Awakens, which had a bit of 70mm IMAX footage, was only available in IMAX 3D. Let us pray for the continuing downward trend of 3D.

 

[redfirebird2008]

Totally agreed. I still find it utterly unacceptable that Force Awakens, which had a bit of 70mm IMAX footage, was only available in IMAX 3D. Let us pray for the continuing downward trend of 3D.

Same problem with Star Trek into Darkness. Waste of 15/70 footage if you're going to slather a bunch of cheap 3D effects on top of it, force people to wear dark sunglasses, and make the image look smaller as well. Every dang time I've seen a movie in 3D, the screen looks smaller with the glasses on than it does in real life.

This was never more frustratingly obvious than with the Dunkirk Prologue in 2D IMAX followed by Rogue One in 3D IMAX. Bad enough that Rogue One was only filling half the screen to begin with due to the 2.40:1 aspect ratio on a 1.43:1 size screen, but the 3D glasses and effects make the screen look 20-30% smaller on top of that. I loved Rogue One as a movie, but just wish I could have seen it in 2D IMAX instead.

 

[StormC]

Fantastic film. I'm gonna sleep on it a bit before posting more thorough thoughts, but you guys won't be disappointed.

Anyone get the Shape of Water trailer with their showing tonight?

Actually yes. It was the only trailer in front of War (Rise and Dawn got a couple of other Fox movies).

 

[Lencho01]

[YT]FCy9A-nfj24[/YT]

 

[Marvolo]

 

[scarlet-witch]

Oh come on Maurice, you can talk. Now you're just being a dick.

 

[SnakeEyes]

Got tickets for Saturday. Can't wait. Going to watch Dawn again before seeing it.

 

[LoganPool]

I work in an office that allows us to watch television, and Rise was on FX this morning. While it's not as good as Dawn, it's still a great flick. Got me hyped for War!

 

[spiderman2]

I work in an office that allows us to watch television, and Rise was on FX this morning. While it's not as good as Dawn, it's still a great flick. Got me hyped for War!

were do you work I want that job lol.

 

[StormC]

Alright, so, thoughts.

What really blew me away with this movie was the cinematography and score. Reeves put together a film that has a methodic, careful pacing reminiscent of films from the 60s and 70s (in that sense, this is the most like the original POTA movies). A lot of reviews have mentioned there's a Kubrick-esque focus on faces in this movie, and they're certainly right. The bleakness throughout is unlike anything I've seen in a PG-13 blockbuster; I hope there aren't parents out there who still think this franchise is appropriate for young children.

I had to remind myself throughout the movie that the apes aren't real. Just, damn. I know why Serkis can't get an Oscar nom, but he should really get one just as an honorary gesture at this point. Seeing the films back-to-back has really shown both how the technology has evolved and how much Serkis has grown into the role.

Some spoiler-y things I didn't like quite as much:

Spoiler

One of my favorite things about Dawn was the gray morality and how both the humans and apes really struggled with tough situations that there weren't easy answers for. Here I found Reeves made it too easy and completely villainized the humans, with basically none of them being likeable or sympathetic. I also thought Woody Harrelson was a bit underused; although the scene with Caesar struggling to kill him was powerful, it was still a somewhat anticlimactic end to his character.

I would have liked to seen things a bit more from the human perspective. How did the humans first find out about the mutated Simian Flu? Where is this military base the Colonel reports to, and how did they recruit so many soldiers (seriously, there were a ****load of foot soldiers raiding the Colonel's base)? What are the humans who aren't part of the military doing now? But I'm guessing it doesn't matter much now because the Simian Flu will probably mutate within every living human and reduce them to primitive form. In that sense, I think future movies might have to timeskip straight to the spaceship crashing because all humans will be like animals now.

I also found myself preferring the first half, where it's a Biblical quest through the land. Incredible scope and cinematography.
The second half being entirely in the military complex was a bit less interesting in terms of scenery, but still very compelling nonetheless.

I slightly preferred Dawn (which is pretty close to a perfect movie for me), but complaints aside, this comes close, and I definitely need to see it again to better grasp it because there's a lot to take in. Probably my second favorite trilogy after TDKT. Really curious to see where the franchise goes from here, and I'm even more excited to see Reeves tackle Batman (hopefully with Giacchino in tow).