Movies

[zendancer]

Yes, when I was in the Air Force (back in the dark ages), I rode backseat occasionally with pilot friends in F-106's and other jets. In order to fly in those jets even the non-pilots, like me, were required to go through high-altitude training in pressure chambers so that people become familiar with the effects of hypoxia, etc. We all wore pressure-suits when flying in those jets, and the oxygen masks force air into the lungs, so it's not like ordinary breathing, and it takes getting used to.

On my first flight my buddy wanted me to get the full G-force experience, so he purposely went into a steep dive and then pulled back hard on the stick putting the plane into a steep climb. I was on the verge of blacking out when he reminded me to squeeze my quads. gluts, and leg muscles tightly to keep all of my blood from leaving my head and going to my feet. The force on the body was unbelievable, and it felt like I weighed about ten tons! After leveling out, he kicked in the afterburners, pulled back on the stick, and we rocketed straight up at Mach 2 to 40,000 feet, and then he pitched the stick forward. This maneuver sends blood upwards instead of downwards, and my vision turned bright red from the blood rushing to my head. You can actually lose consciousness from a "red out" as well as a "black out," and the pilots learn where the danger point is in order not to exceed it.

After subsequently chasing a T-33 jet for a simulated target run, the pilot's work for the day was over, so then we just played around, and he let me take over the controls, and that was a real trip! Doing an aileron roll, etc at Mach 1.5 was tons of fun. By the time we landed I understood why the attitudes of pilots are so "over the top," and I looked at the ground maintenance crews as if they were ants servicing a queen! haha

Although I have a fairly strong stomach, on another flight in a T-33 during which we were the target, the pilot played around by following the contour of clouds with climbs, dives, and rolls, and after about fifteen minutes of that, I suggested that we land the plane before I messed up my cockpit. Those guys definitely play with some high-powered toys!

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2022 9:43:13 GMT -5 Reefs said:

[... about Top Gun Maverick ... ]

I posted something about this movie a few weeks ago but deleted it. I found the test flight scene in the beginning of of the film to be really beautiful. The music combines with the visuals from the upper atmosphere, and the sun rising. I loved it. I've never seen a movie that is such a cheesy over-the-top action movie, and an inspirational work of art at the same time. 

[Reefs]

Oct 3, 2022 11:07:40 GMT -5 zendancer said:

Yes, when I was in the Air Force (back in the dark ages), I rode backseat occasionally with pilot friends in F-106's and other jets. In order to fly in those jets even the non-pilots, like me, were required to go through high-altitude training in pressure chambers so that people become familiar with the effects of hypoxia, etc. We all wore pressure-suits when flying in those jets, and the oxygen masks force air into the lungs, so it's not like ordinary breathing, and it takes getting used to.

On my first flight my buddy wanted me to get the full G-force experience, so he purposely went into a steep dive and then pulled back hard on the stick putting the plane into a steep climb. I was on the verge of blacking out when he reminded me to squeeze my quads. gluts, and leg muscles tightly to keep all of my blood from leaving my head and going to my feet. The force on the body was unbelievable, and it felt like I weighed about ten tons! After leveling out, he kicked in the afterburners, pulled back on the stick, and we rocketed straight up at Mach 2 to 40,000 feet, and then he pitched the stick forward. This maneuver sends blood upwards instead of downwards, and my vision turned bright red from the blood rushing to my head. You can actually lose consciousness from a "red out" as well as a "black out," and the pilots learn where the danger point is in order not to exceed it.

After subsequently chasing a T-33 jet for a simulated target run, the pilot's work for the day was over, so then we just played around, and he let me take over the controls, and that was a real trip! Doing an aileron roll, etc at Mach 1.5 was tons of fun. By the time we landed I understood why the attitudes of pilots are so "over the top," and I looked at the ground maintenance crews as if they were ants servicing a queen! haha

Although I have a fairly strong stomach, on another flight in a T-33 during which we were the target, the pilot played around by following the contour of clouds with climbs, dives, and rolls, and after about fifteen minutes of that, I suggested that we land the plane before I messed up my cockpit. Those guys definitely play with some high-powered toys!

[Reefs]

Oct 3, 2022 12:08:20 GMT -5 @robertc said:

Oct 3, 2022 9:43:13 GMT -5 Reefs said:

[... about Top Gun Maverick ... ]

I posted something about this movie a few weeks ago but deleted it. I found the test flight scene in the beginning of of the film to be really beautiful. The music combines with the visuals from the upper atmosphere, and the sun rising. I loved it. I've never seen a movie that is such a cheesy over-the-top action movie, and an inspirational work of art at the same time. 

Yes, the Dark Star, Mach 10! Awesome.

In that context...

[stardustpilgrim]

Seems a lot of people liked it also. I'll be rooting for it a week from now, eleven Oscar nominations (it has already collected a lot of wins, Oscar is the big show). Especially for Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, and of course for best picture.

Jul 7, 2022 18:40:29 GMT -5 stardustpilgrim said:

Probably a couple of months ago now I saw Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. It is very good, very different. Won't try to explain, the trailer will give a good idea. I think anybody here would like. There was a few minutes of...certain body-stuff I didn't wholly appreciate, but I got past. (IOW, don't go on a first date). It's way out there.

[ouroboros]

As A.I. seems to be quite a hot topic lately, I thought to mention a film I recently watched called 'The Artifice Girl'. It's another one of those low budget indie films I recommend from time to time, so no special effects to speak of. In fact I'm pretty sure the whole thing takes place in only three pretty basic rooms. It's largely dialogue based and reasonably well written. The basic plot is that a guy creates an A.I. program of a young girl to snare online predators and it uses this medium to go on to explore various considerations and ethical conundrums that arise as the program grows. As it goes along it delves into the notion of what the effect might be of us transposing our own 'baggage' in the scenario. I mean, if we were to create a super-intelligence in our own (not so pristine) image, what the potential dangers might be. As such you're inevitably wondering whether it's going to go 'full Skynet' at any stage … **no spoilers** . The actors do okay and the young actress was the star of the show for me. Anyway, I found it quite interesting and thought provoking, and at around 1hr 30 it held my attention okay.

[stardustpilgrim]

I've just been watching Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the documentary by the filmmaker Werner Herzog about the paintings of the cave in France, Chauvet Cave, the oldest paintings known to man. The cave was discovered December 18, 1994, having been covered by a landslide. I've known about the film since it first came out, never seen it until just now. It's extraordinary, may be Herzog's masterpiece. I could recommend the film to anyone, especially everyone here. It touches on themes we often discuss here. I'm watching right now, mostly presently listening to, how the soundtrack was made for the film, in a church in the Netherlands, almost no dialogue, some subtitles. The composer, Ernst Reijseger, decided to record in analogue instead of digital. He plays the cello, and is now discussing a cello made to his specifications, he's in dialogue with Herzog. He played his previous cello for 27 years. He now loves the new cello, some lower tones, and has not touched his old cello. And their kid is going to be amazing. When he finished an unconscious smile arises, and then he catches himself, the smile goes away. I like his shirt even, I hate collars, I don't think I will ever (have to) wear a tie again. Oh, wow, the keyboard guy has a combo piano-organ, never seen that before. He has shifted from the church pipe organ to his own piano-organ-combo. But this is a good piggy-back film that would never been seen on its on, outside of DVD Cave of Forgotten Dreams. We see the less than one-year-old baby again, in a pouch in its Mother's lap, at the keyboard. Now sleepy, saying, I'VE HAD ENOUGH! Bonus-music-film ends, I was wrong by 12 minutes, the bonus was about 45 minutes long. I will have to buy, probably, and watch many times.

If you know Herzog you will recognize him, but especially recognize his voice. He played the bad guy in the first Jack Reacher film, the Tom Cruise film, not the current Amazon series. He plays a very convincing bad-guy, he looks and sounds a very convincing bad-guy.

The paintings, from carbon dating, some, go back 30,000-40,000 years. The cave has been sealed for tens of thousands of years. They are simply masterful, I will not try to describe how the film goes into description. I will pull up the trailer, it will I'm sure give a taste. Nearby, a flute was found made from the wing of a bird, ancient, but it obviously has the same musical scale we use today, one of the archeologists played a couple of tunes on it. But the film is basically sacred, has a sense of the sacred. It's amazing to walk, if just in film, where very few humans have walked in the 40,000 years. Not mentioned, but you realize the cave was a secret place handed down from generation to generation, very little foot-traffic. The music-bonus feature is now at least 1/2 hour, but you can sense it's coming to an end. Register is playing his cello, eyes mostly closed, his facial expression playing the music. There is a pipe organ too. (I'm partial to the pipe organ, my former wife played the organ professionally. A treat almost every night, then, was hearing her play-practice, piano also. After we put the kids to bed, 8:00, she practiced, I read, for an hour).

[zendancer]

Jun 27, 2023 14:14:32 GMT -5 stardustpilgrim said:

I've just been watching Cave of Forgotten Dreams, the documentary by the filmmaker Werner Herzog about the paintings of the cave in France, Chauvet Cave, the oldest paintings known to man. The cave was discovered December 18, 1994, having been covered by a landslide. I've known about the film since it first came out, never seen it until just now. It's extraordinary, may be Herzog's masterpiece. I could recommend the film to anyone, especially everyone here. It touches on themes we often discuss here. I'm watching right now, mostly presently listening to, how the soundtrack was made for the film, in a church in the Netherlands, almost no dialogue, some subtitles. The composer, Ernst Reijseger, decided to record in analogue instead of digital. He plays the cello, and is now discussing a cello made to his specifications, he's in dialogue with Herzog. He played his previous cello for 27 years. He now loves the new cello, some lower tones, and has not touched his old cello. And their kid is going to be amazing. When he finished an unconscious smile arises, and then he catches himself, the smile goes away. I like his shirt even, I hate collars, I don't think I will ever (have to) wear a tie again. Oh, wow, the keyboard guy has a combo piano-organ, never seen that before. He has shifted from the church pipe organ to his own piano-organ-combo. But this is a good piggy-back film that would never been seen on its on, outside of DVD Cave of Forgotten Dreams. We see the less than one-year-old baby again, in a pouch in its Mother's lap, at the keyboard. Now sleepy, saying, I'VE HAD ENOUGH! Bonus-music-film ends, I was wrong by 12 minutes, the bonus was about 45 minutes long. I will have to buy, probably, and watch many times.

If you know Herzog you will recognize him, but especially recognize his voice. He played the bad guy in the first Jack Reacher film, the Tom Cruise film, not the current Amazon series. He plays a very convincing bad-guy, he looks and sounds a very convincing bad-guy.

The paintings, from carbon dating, some, go back 30,000-40,000 years. The cave has been sealed for tens of thousands of years. They are simply masterful, I will not try to describe how the film goes into description. I will pull up the trailer, it will I'm sure give a taste. Nearby, a flute was found made from the wing of a bird, ancient, but it obviously has the same musical scale we use today, one of the archeologists played a couple of tunes on it. But the film is basically sacred, has a sense of the sacred. It's amazing to walk, if just in film, where very few humans have walked in the 40,000 years. Not mentioned, but you realize the cave was a secret place handed down from generation to generation, very little foot-traffic. The music-bonus feature is now at least 1/2 hour, but you can sense it's coming to an end. Register is playing his cello, eyes mostly closed, his facial expression playing the music. There is a pipe organ too. (I'm partial to the pipe organ, my former wife played the organ professionally. A treat almost every night, then, was hearing her play-practice, piano also. After we put the kids to bed, 8:00, she practiced, I read, for an hour).

Great documentary! I recommend it to people all the time.

[stardustpilgrim]

Here's Werner Herzog in Jack Reacher, a major character, the head bad-guy. He's quite chilling.

[Deleted]

Jun 27, 2023 18:57:34 GMT -5 stardustpilgrim said:

Here's Werner Herzog in Jack Reacher, a major character, the head bad-guy. He's quite chilling.

I was surprised when I saw Werner Herzog doing acting roles. He is best known as a great German film director. These two movies of his are definitely worth watching.

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
www.imdb.com/title/tt0071691/

Aguirre, the Wrath of God
www.imdb.com/title/tt0068182/

[stardustpilgrim]

Jun 27, 2023 22:01:03 GMT -5 @satch said:

Jun 27, 2023 18:57:34 GMT -5 stardustpilgrim said:

Here's Werner Herzog in Jack Reacher, a major character, the head bad-guy. He's quite chilling.

I was surprised when I saw Werner Herzog doing acting roles. He is best known as a great German film director. These two movies of his are definitely worth watching.

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
www.imdb.com/title/tt0071691/

Aguirre, the Wrath of God
www.imdb.com/title/tt0068182/

I saw Fitzcarraldo in the theater, a crazy achievement of a film, making it was a feat in itself.

[zendancer]

Jun 27, 2023 22:23:28 GMT -5 stardustpilgrim said:

Jun 27, 2023 22:01:03 GMT -5 @satch said:

I was surprised when I saw Werner Herzog doing acting roles. He is best known as a great German film director. These two movies of his are definitely worth watching.

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
www.imdb.com/title/tt0071691/

Aguirre, the Wrath of God
www.imdb.com/title/tt0068182/

I saw Fitzcarraldo in the theater, a crazy achievement of a film, making it was a feat in itself.

Wow! After reading about this film, I'll have to find it and watch it. The story of how the film was made, and what happened while it was being made, is absolutely unbelievable! I also plan to check out the two films Satch recommended. Herzog is amazing.

[Deleted]

Jun 28, 2023 4:52:56 GMT -5 zendancer said:

Jun 27, 2023 22:23:28 GMT -5 stardustpilgrim said:

I saw Fitzcarraldo in the theater, a crazy achievement of a film, making it was a feat in itself.

Wow! After reading about this film, I'll have to find it and watch it. The story of how the film was made, and what happened while it was being made, is absolutely unbelievable! I also plan to check out the two films Satch recommended. Herzog is amazing.

Kasper Hauser has an interesting spiritual and philosophical dimension to it.

[stardustpilgrim]

Jun 28, 2023 4:52:56 GMT -5 zendancer said:

Jun 27, 2023 22:23:28 GMT -5 stardustpilgrim said:

I saw Fitzcarraldo in the theater, a crazy achievement of a film, making it was a feat in itself.

Wow! After reading about this film, I'll have to find it and watch it. The story of how the film was made, and what happened while it was being made, is absolutely unbelievable! I also plan to check out the two films Satch recommended. Herzog is amazing.

Yea, if I remember correctly, there is also a full feature documentary about the filming of Fitzcarraldo.

[zendancer]

Jun 28, 2023 5:56:38 GMT -5 @satch said:

Jun 28, 2023 4:52:56 GMT -5 zendancer said:

Wow! After reading about this film, I'll have to find it and watch it. The story of how the film was made, and what happened while it was being made, is absolutely unbelievable! I also plan to check out the two films Satch recommended. Herzog is amazing.

Kasper Hauser has an interesting spiritual and philosophical dimension to it.

I will definitely check it out. Thanks. I had never heard of these movies, and I love good movies.