Night Watch

[Samwise]

Trailer
IMDB

I'd never heard of this movie until about a week ago.  It was apparently one of the most successful Russian movies of all time, and it was recently released in the US with very little fanfare (at least not that I've seen).  I went and saw it yesterday and was suitably impressed.  Fairly standard fantasy/horror fare a la Underworld or Hellboy, with a reasonably good plot and really top-notch visuals (watch the trailer).

It doesn't seem to be playing in very many theaters, so I suspect it won't last long.  See it while you can.

[Velorath]

Where have you been hiding?

[Samwise]

Under a rock, clearly.

I'd merge this thread with one of those, but there wasn't any actual discussion of the movie in any of them, which is probably why I don't remember hearing about it.  So... it has its own shiny new thread now. 

Any of the other dozens of people who heard about it way before I did (and are therefore cooler than I could ever hope to be) seen it yet?

[Wolf]

It was apparently one of the most successful Russian movies of all time

That's a bit too strong. May be one of the most successful Russian movies of the last ten years, but all time... meh. Anyways, both Night Watch and Day Watch (which came out recently) are god awful movies. That, ofcoruse, being my personal opinion, but honestly they're just overhyped pieces of shit. Both of them. If you wanted to watch Russian cinema, there are just better options out there :)

[schild]

Russian Cinema is by far the worst cinema I've seen. I'd say, just off hand, that probably 85% of it shouldn't be viewed by anyone. Out of the other 15%, maybe 5% of it is actually worth seeing while the other 10% should be avoided if possible. Now, as for Night Watch, I'm excited. In the same way I was excited about the Japanese movie Casshern. I'm not expecting much for plot development or story but the visuals just make it all so worth it.

[Wolf]

Now, I'd normally argue that you're wrong. But I can't say that for you, as you probably just don't get most of the russian movies. If I were to recommend Osobennosti natsionalnoy okhoty and/or Rybalki you wouldn't get what's funny about them. And they're fairly straight forward and should be more understandable for westerners. Contrary to the weird goodness that Kin-Dza-Dza is and the classic soviet humour of The Diamond Hand.

But I'll just be quiet and thankful that I've been spoon-fed western/american pop-culture my whole life and I can enjoy Kubrick, Fincher and De Niro, Francois Ozon and Louis de Funes and Emir Kusturica, Georgi Daneliya and Yuri Nikulin at the same time. I'm a child of many cultures :P

[HaemishM]

I've been hyped as hell about this movie since I saw the first trailer, but I'll be damned if I could ever find any information on if it will see my little backwater's theaters ever.

[kaid]

Probably going to have to check this one out when it comes to DVD. Cause the chances of a local theater showing this are slim and none.

kaid

[Mr_PeaCH]

EW said it opened in only 3 theatres nationally but will expand to 150.  So yeah, unless you're close to the big cities chances are slim to none.  But our local paper's snob reviewer panned it so now I know it will be good.   

[Wolf]

It's not. It sucks. It's Uwe Boll bad with nice visuals. I don't know how else to put it :)

[Hoax]

I can try to watch it this weekend if that'll make people feel better, but really I have no taste in movies nor the desire to develop "taste" if it entertains me for two hours whether I have my brain in the on or off position I am happy.  Then I walk out of the theater, light a cig, and promptly forget everything I just saw.  Eventually though I'll reach for a twenty that no longer exists and be upset.

[schild]

Now, I'd normally argue that you're wrong. But I can't say that for you, as you probably just don't get most of the russian movies. If I were to recommend Osobennosti natsionalnoy okhoty and/or Rybalki you wouldn't get what's funny about them. And they're fairly straight forward and should be more understandable for westerners. Contrary to the weird goodness that Kin-Dza-Dza is and the classic soviet humour of The Diamond Hand.

But I'll just be quiet and thankful that I've been spoon-fed western/american pop-culture my whole life and I can enjoy Kubrick, Fincher and De Niro, Francois Ozon and Louis de Funes and Emir Kusturica, Georgi Daneliya and Yuri Nikulin at the same time. I'm a child of many cultures :P

You're new here. So I won't get into this conversation until you have 500 posts. Think of it as a very special ding gratz. Special like a short bus.

[Samwise]

If nothing else, the movie gets big points from me for doing neat things with subtitles.  Like having them get "wiped" by objects passing through the frame, or having certain words fade in slower than others to emphasize them.  It was a cute trick.  I'm sure some other movie has done it before, but it was nice to see so much effort put into a task that's too often done by some lackwit who understands neither the movie he's translating nor the language that he's translating it into.

Visuals were very pretty, as noted.  Again, lots of attention to detail.

And the script could have been much worse.  From the trailer I was expecting something on the level of Underworld, but the plot ended up actually being interesting.  Political maneuvering, moral dilemmas, all that kind of thing.  I'm actually looking forward to seeing more of the story in the next one.

[Bunk]

I wondered how Schild would respond to that. I give him points for the restraint.

Hint to Wolf - One of the things that can rile up Schild and get his panties in a bunch is discussions of foreign cinema. That, and bizarre Japanese tv shows. I've learned to just stay away from him on that front.

Oh, and release Delicatessen on DVD fuckwads.

[schild]

Delicatessan will eventually get a release & remaster because of the success of Amelie and City of Lost Children.

[Wolf]

99.99999% Of cinema is foreign cinema to me. Anyway, I got the idea, but I'm a tenacious mofo. I just need to ding :P

[HaemishM]

Or just say Quentin Tarantino really loudly.




QUENTIN TARANTINO!

[Furiously]

Oh GOD
I  QUENTIN TARANTINO[/color]

[schild]

I don't get it.

[MrHat]

[Morfiend]

I think I played a demo for a NightWatch PC game. It actually wasnt half bad, except for HOW FUCKING SLOW the character moved during scripted sequences. Other than that, seemed to be a decent turn based RPG with vampires, guns, and some hot warewolf chick.

[Wolf]

Now, I'd normally argue that you're wrong. But I can't say that for you, as you probably just don't get most of the russian movies. If I were to recommend Osobennosti natsionalnoy okhoty and/or Rybalki you wouldn't get what's funny about them. And they're fairly straight forward and should be more understandable for westerners. Contrary to the weird goodness that Kin-Dza-Dza is and the classic soviet humour of The Diamond Hand.

But I'll just be quiet and thankful that I've been spoon-fed western/american pop-culture my whole life and I can enjoy Kubrick, Fincher and De Niro, Francois Ozon and Louis de Funes and Emir Kusturica, Georgi Daneliya and Yuri Nikulin at the same time. I'm a child of many cultures :P

You're new here. So I won't get into this conversation until you have 500 posts. Think of it as a very special ding gratz. Special like a short bus.

Hi.  :-D

[Ironwood]

Wow, that's almost impressive.

[Signe]

I'm pretty sure he meant 5000 posts.  You know those pesky zeros.

[Ironwood]

Or as we call them 'Fellow Posters'.

[schild]

Russian cinema still sucks my dick ass.

[Wolf]

More than a year later, you're still so very, very wrong :)

[schild]

Look, there are always exceptions to the rules.

But it's a rule, Russia is too depressed to make awesome or even great movies on a regular basis.

[angry.bob]

QUENTIN TARANTINO!

You will not provoke me so easily sir.

Edit: Ack, that was a year old. Nevermind.

[Wolf]

Look, there are always exceptions to the rules.

But it's a rule, Russia is too depressed to make awesome or even great movies on a regular basis.

What's the persentage of good movies out of bad ones for this sort of thing to be true. When you give me an answer not covered by Russia (or rather, the USSR or even if you'd like - the soviet block), pre-1989 and show me the nation that does.

What I'm trying to get at is that you cannot disregard soviet cinema as an influence in world cinema with "ROFLCAKE RUSSIANMOVIES SUKC".

[pxib]

The definitions of "satisfying ending" differ from culture to culture... and that applies to the satisfying end of a scene, a sub-plot, or a whole cinematic experience. As much as Joseph Campbell mined stories for universality, how a particular group chooses to tell that story varies wildly. Americans cultivate comic timing to sell their jokes, they like loose ends tied in neat bows, and they want endings that are simultaneously surprising and, in retrospect, inevitable. They get impatient if too much silence is invested setting the scene or exploring emotional impact, but they are relatively tolerant of excess dialogue.

None of these things mesh well with Russian film. Night Watch was (and I don't doubt that Day Watch will be) more acceptable to American tastes than most Russian fare.

[Samwise]

BEST.

NECROPOST.

EVER.

[Furiously]

QUENTIN TARANTINO!

You will not provoke me so easily sir.

Edit: Ack, that was a year old. Nevermind.

I saw my  post and was thinking...hmmm - I'm really not that found of QT. Then I recalled I was joining Haemish in provoking bob. Actually Pulp Fiction was pretty good.