Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

Movie of the Month - Dark City

July 2017

Podcast coming soon (hopefully today or tomorrow), but I just wanted to open this thread a little early to see what people had to say about Dark City. We've got five reviews of it on the site, all of which are positive and four of which are or , though the review-less ratings are a little less forgiving.

And while some of the stuff in the following link may step on some of the stuff we say in the podcast, here's an interesting analysis of the film and its visual symbolism.

http://i.imgur.com/UN9aZnB.gif



So: Dark City. Whatcha think?

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

Huge fan of Dark City. Although, like Rufus Sewell, I tend to favor the Director's Cut, and not the inferior Theatrical Cut. Check out Sewell's comments on the different cuts on the DVD if you get a chance, as they are good for a laugh (he does NOT like the Theatrical Cut at all).

Anyway, Dark City is right up my ally. Tech Noir? I'm there! I have not watched it in a while, so I guess it being the movie of the month for July is as good an excuse as any, yea? ;)

Interesting, I didn't know there was a Director's Cut, in a nut shell why doesn't Rufus Sewell like the Theatrical Cut?

Does it have to do with the ultra short shot lengths? which is one of the shortest lengths used, averaging only 1.8 seconds per camera shot?

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

I think both versions have very short shot lengths. The theatrical cut has a ridiculous bit of narration in the beginning explicitly telling the audience what's going on, rather than throwing them into the story and gradually revealing it.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

There is also some mixing around of the order of some scenes that make some sections of the theatrical cut not make sense - this has been fixed in the DC. I think Sewell's main issue was the narration, but he comes down pretty heavily on the TC, and the idea of studios getting to make decisions on final cuts in general. He also takes a shot at a portion of the audience that the studio had in mind when they added the narration, which is a pretty funny comment. He uses some color language in regards to the alleged "dummies".

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

I haven't seen it.

But it's been on my watchlist for the longest time. I even have it ready to watch. Somehow I still haven't gotten around to it.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

Well, now's the perfect time! :)

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

Even if you have seen it, we'll just erase your memory so you can watch it again fresh.

Good article. Thanks for posting, Yods.

Here ya' go. Kept this one under an hour, even.

Big thanks to @Slappydavis as always, and to @TheUsualSuspect both for joining us, and for picking such a great film.


The best way to get it is to subscribe with iTunes. The next best ways are to just download it with this link (or add the podcast feed into your RSS reader). Or you can just listen right now with this embedded player:

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

Have to go out soon for an appointment so I'll put that on hold until I get back, mke a brew and kick my shoes off.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

No worries, it'll still be here later!

I really enjoyed the last one. And desperately need to find out if TUS speaks like a Canuck.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

His Canadian-ness was not especially noticeable, at least to me.

Yoda have you considered a youtube channel? Something akin to Screen Junkies?

P.S. I had you pegged to have a deeper, more soft-spoken voice for some reason. Imagine my surprise when I discovered you were Speedy Gonzales' younger and chattier cousin, Rapido.

On a more serious note, great podcast. :D

Podcast was a lot of fun.

No caffeine for me next time. I apologize for the incomplete and scattered thoughts. When I'm listening now I can understand it, but only by relying on my own memory of what I was going for. Soooooo good luck, y'all are good at extrapolating right?

Also, to combine a few thoughts while re-listening to the podcast:

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

I'm still surprised that both of you came in with high ratings despite seeming unimpressed with a lot of it.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

I watched it last week as it goes. Here's a mini review:

https://www.movieforums.com/communit...42#post1731942

I don't remember criticizing it too much, though it might just be that what criticisms there were got an inordinate amount of time. Might be one of those things where what's good about it is relatively straightforward, so it's more interesting to discuss the things that don't quite work.

I took for granted that it was a mini classic, however, and as such might not have felt the need to enumerate all that's good about it (which is a lot!).

Fair enough.

I had a good time talking about this film, probably a more philosophical chat than I've ever had with someone about it. Listening to it I'm sitting here thinking "I should have said this, or I should have said that" but as a whole I thought it was a success!!!!

Don't hesitate to bring me back for another!!!

Same! You did a great job. And hey, anything you didn't get a chance to say, feel free to post in here!

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

The only things (from memory at least) that stand out as negatives were 1) the hand-holding narrative at the start and I think again near the end with Sutherland's coaching, and 2) Connelly's awkward club scene introduction covering "Sway with Me." Beautiful song, and perfect for the mood, but felt weird to me watching her sing it. Minor gripes though, for one of my favorite movies.

I'm excited to listen the links later.
@Yoda
Was your reference in the conspiracy thread about the Mandela Effect any way related to ideas in this movie?

Yeah, agree about the song. For the first thing, though (and we talk about this in the podcast): that's the theatrical cut. The director's cut omits it, and is much better for it, though as you say there's a bit of an info dump later.

Yep, I think I said in the other thread that we'd discussed it in the podcast, which was recorded over a week ago.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

Ok that makes sense. I wasn't sure if you were referring to another, unrelated podcast!

Thanks for the update and I'm definitely going to listen to this one.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

Just starting but want to ask before I forget - are you saying they used the matrix set pieces? Shouldnt that be the other way around? I thought Matrix was shot after DC? Not important. Just grabbed my ear.

And who chose the intro music and quotes for the podcasts?

OK back to my cuppa.

I thought that's what we said, but it might have been phrased ambiguously.

I put the opening together something like eight years ago, when I was just fiddling around with podcast stuff. It came out way better than I thought it would, given my total lack of expertise. :laugh:

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

I meant to ask @Slappydavis in regards to the memory implants climax sequence. You mentioned you like the idea behind it, but the scene just didn't sit right with you. Do you think it's due to the execution of how they show us the memories in the first place? The awkward sound and blurred fragmented boarders around the frame? I felt like they could have made that bit a little more engaging, but it was really fast and frenzied.

A number of pieces of the set, including those used for the rooftop chase, were sold to the production of The Matrix (1999) at the end of shooting.
-IMDB.

I might have said they used the same sets as The Matrix, awkwardly phrased to imply they used it after. My bad. I knew they were the same sets though.

I say a version of this on the podcast, but I think the "oomph" it was missing was that they mention the "he would need several lifetimes" thing once, off-handedly. If that'd been built up a little more, I think that reveal would've landed a lot better.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

Probably just my caffeine free brain hearing it wrong. Thanks for clarifying. I didnt even notice to be honest, but love the green hue.

The intro is great, Yods. Gets my toes tapping just like music in a porn :up: (just kiddin. Havent watched a porn in years, but loving it anyway).

Bugger. Hit pause to go make a coffee and it took me back to the beginning. Wont let me FF but I'm pretty sure the last podcast did let me FF. Oh well, More toe tapping coming up.

Embedded player? If so, yeah, it can be wonky if the browser's open awhile, I think, depending on your system and setup. The lowest-friction version is hitting the download link above it and playing on whatever your computer's native player is.

Maybe I should finally get off my butt and start uploading these to YouTube, too.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

Interesting comment not many people seem to talk about it. I;m always surprised when people, especially Australians, say they've seen it. I dont recall any promotion here for it. I think we just found it by accident in the video store.Tragic - I'd love to see this on the big screen.

And I can pick TUS but very very slight hardly there Canuck accent. Nice dynamic between you three.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

urghhh. Never mind about my previous questions. I think my computer is having a hissy fit because she just stalled it and took me back to the beginning again. I think I'll give her a freaking coffee!

Interesting commentary on the 'toy city' look. That really worked for me which was a surprise. Gave it an otherworldly atmosphere in my mind. And I had no idea Gattica was low budget - looks pretty schmick.

Will continue after I bitch slap this 'puta

I liked it from the beginning, especially since it established itself as a high concept film pretty early (sometimes I have trouble with initial viewings of films that rely on a thoughtful high concept mindset but don't relay that idea to me properly until later). But that same mindset created a few seemingly irreconcilable problems such as but talking through the movie with you two gave me some insight that let me get rid of those issues.

I also think that very problem is why I kinda like giving it a score at the end, because sometimes it can seem like a movie struck any of us as terrible or great based on content of the podcast, but actually we were just inspired to find faults in a great movie, or silver linings in a terrible movie.

Yeah, main problem was the production.

I'll send you some vegemite if you do. Silly thing still wont let me FF and I was enjoying the buzz of energy in that.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

I actually bought Dark City on Blu Ray a couple months ago. I watched the film because I'd heard praise from a lot of people on this forum. I watched it, and while I thought it was creative and definitely inspired from a visual perspective, I thought the film floundered from a narrative perspective.

Getting my wife to listen to it tomorrow. :p

What did she think?!

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

I love Dark City. One of the most underrated sci-fi movies of all time in my opinion. I only saw the director's cut it turns out, so I can't compare, but I love it.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

I love the noirishness of Dark City although feel that Rufus Sewell was miscast. I’m a big fan of his but felt that an American would be better and that he wasn’t engaging enough as a lead. For me, its high concept would work better as a TV show.

She thought both Yoda and Slappy sounded more intelligent than me. :(

She said for someone to have the film in the top ten I should have 'defended' it more, hahaha. Then went on a tangent about is it Sex in the City or Sex and the City via our Mandela Effect section.

Overall she is a fan of the content.

Re: Movie of the Month - Dark City (July 2017)
 

I haven't seen Dark City since I was a teen, but from what I remember it was excellent. Need to rewatch.

Yeah, I think we touched on this in the podcast itself, but it definitely sounds like we're criticizing it more than we are. I really love the film, though, and Slappy seemed to as well, so I think it's just a situation where it's more interesting to analyze seeming flaws, or maybe it's so good that all that's left to do other than gush (which isn't interesting) is to talk about the very few ways it could be different.

Great film, though, for sure, if anyone is reading this and didn't get that from the recording.

I think this film is probably the one where I got the most convinced via the discussion in the podcast.

During my initial viewing, I had a hard time not being distracted by what I saw as pretty serious flaws. I like to bring those flaws to the table to talk them over.

In particular, like I mentioned in an earlier post here, the thing that bothered me more than anything was what looked like an inconsistency in how the premise was about this collectivist hive mind, but one that also had differing opinions and positions in their hierarchy. But I think there was a cogent point in the discussion about how that's actually not that dissimilar from our own minds, we have different aspects to our personality, and that's why we see the discrepancy in the film; even though I'm still a "single mind" I still have what I consider higher and lower orders of thought and plenty of times where I feel torn on decisions.

I think I'm still not crazy about the visuals, but we may just chalk that up to me being the youngest on this cast.

Edit: Because I have the best eyesight I mean.