Jump to content

Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable


Jonesy Jones
 Share

Recommended Posts

ALERT: If you have not seen this film, GO TO NETFLIX AND WATCH IT NOW! Not only will the following contain spoilers, but it will COMPLETELY ruin the viewing experience. COMPLETELY. You may hate the movie, or love it, but if you do not watch it now blindly, you will not be able to do it later. DO NOT search for the movie on Google. I repeat. Do not look it up at all. Just go to Netflix at watch. Do NOT read the comments, or you will not have the proper viewing experience. I can't express it enough.

************************************

I'd like to start a discussion on this, but don't have time to add my thoughts at the moment. Will do so later. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EOSHD Pro Color 5 for Sony cameras EOSHD Z LOG for Nikon CamerasEOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs

I realize this is a gear head forum. Actual filmmaking threads are not popular. They should be. This is what it's all about. But alas.

There is so much interesting to me about the film. Ima total sucker for treasure movies. Docs or narrative, doesn't matter.

Most people hate the fact that the film turns out to be completely fake. I'm not sure why. Were they not entertained for the 82 minutes they knew the film would be? I loved it. It totally got me. The whole time I kept thinking... "Oh man, this is unbelievable." lol... And it just got more unbelievable as the film went on. And then the Mickey Mouse at the end. What a gag. Awesome!

What's interesting to me is that here we have an artist who made a film to generate interest in his art. Could the opposite work for a filmmaker? I guess it could be argued that Lucas already did this. He made a movie, and then sold figurines of the characters.

The bottomline for me is that, as filmmakers, making a movie is not enough. There must be something else. A gag. A movement. Rally. Cause. Message. Trick. 

By all means, focus on making movies. But if you really want to be successful and sustainable, there has to be something else, and it's gotta be out of the box. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched the entirety of it and only after JJ said to watch it.... And, to be honest, I was highly doubtful in the beginning especially when the artist said something along the lines of hoping/believing what's there less than what could be there....

Made me think that the artist planted the whole thing... It was a back and forth battle thinking that it's real or not real.... "How can there be coral on the statue if it's fake?".. "How can that huge statue be transported on ship?" 

I figured some of the dates being presented were fake.... 

To be honest, I totally missed the Mickey statue... Don't watch this if you have kids running around. Only till you guys told me that I had to go back and rewatch it. I found it weird that there was a statue of a rat at the end... But never put 2 and 2 together... Again don't watch it with kids running around.

In my opinion, they could have taken this another route... 

A pirate ship stole most of the items... Some items really show up on eBay.

After the credits- Easter egg that it was faked.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Jonesy Jones said:

There is so much interesting to me about the film. Ima total sucker for treasure movies. Docs or narrative, doesn't matter.

I'm a total sucker for treasure movies too, but not for fakery.  I only watched ten minutes.  That was all I could take, sorry.  A similar movie that did work for me is "What We Do In The Shadows".  It too, is shot like a documentary, but it is written for laughs and I cared immediately about the characters.  In a real documentary, the camera doesn't move around to give a sense of movement, as it does in TFTW, it moves around because it must keep up with the subject in the frame.  Right away, I knew it was a fake documentary (camera movements too studied) and I found that obnoxious; again, fakery for the sake of looking truthful instead of lying to make a genuine point. So from the start, I felt like I was being manipulated.  It was just too obvious.  The people interviewed in the film (real, characters?) sounded idiotic, whoever they were.  Every frame shouted "look at a great filmmaker I am".  What is art?  Well, we could talk about that all day.  What is fakery?  That film.  It's tough for me, being alone, not being part of the crowd.  The older I get, the less tolerant I am to lying, artistically, though I am more open to different kinds of art!  On the bright side, that film strengthens everything I hold important.  It makes me remember to talk up the art that don't get enough recognition.  It makes me appreciate other documentaries like "The Artist Is Present", where the artist recognizes that they straddle the line between political nonsense and having something to say.  Sorry for the negative review @Jonesy Jones  But thanks for the suggestion.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A have a couple of deadlines for the next dozen days but I will try to watch after that. I guess it is a mockumentary? I like those (Spinal Tap anyone?!).

@maxotics Taika Waititi and Jemain Clement are two of the most talented men of our (I am a bit younger though) generation. I am following them for years and years. They have reached "mainstream" status now, something I could never imagine, especially for Taika, they have reached Hollywood top but still they are offering an indie eye on their projects.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

Taika Waititi and Jemain Clement are two of the most talented men of our (I am a bit younger though) generation

That's the thrill of movie-making, talent saves no one from flop-dom!  Indeed, when one looks at all that can go wrong, it's a miracle good films ever get made.  I didn't mean to malign them in the least!   They failed for me, that takes nothing away from anyone else, I hope!  Well, I know!  Hollywood does better with films I don't like.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I watched it on Jonesy Jones recommendation without knowing it was fake.  I was thinking there was going to be a meaningful revelation at by the end of it, but for me there wasn't.  Even though I took it a face value, I keep saying to myself, this looks like it is staged and I keep expecting some reality tv type of moments where there is the melt down, freakout, rage quit, sellout, the betrayal, revelation or all of the above.  So it didn't get there for me.  Also, the color grading of teal and orange got tiresome especially the teal tinted ocean.  That said, just completing something of the scale was a great accomplishment, through there was not enough soul swapping/selling for my tasted in drama whether it is real or fake or something in-between.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@maxotics The two aforementioned Kiwis (sorry @IronFilm !) did the "What we do in the shadows" film. Taika directed tha last Thor:Ragnarok, which is watchable (most of those comic films are really terrible) and has some sense of humor. This is a huge step from someone that became  known from this film http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0494222/?ref_=m_nmfmd_dr_12

Very interesting and talented duo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/29/2018 at 2:43 PM, maxotics said:

A similar movie that did work for me is "What We Do In The Shadows".  It too, is shot like a documentary, but it is written for laughs and I cared immediately about the characters. 


A kiwi movie too! :-D I know a few people who worked on it. 

 


A recognise lots of scenes from the streets of Wellington as well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Kisaha said:

The two aforementioned Kiwis (sorry @IronFilm !) did the "What we do in the shadows" film

Goes to show you how much I follow who-does-what anymore.   "What We Do" blew me away.  It's difficult to do a 2-minute video gag.  90 minutes?  One of the best films I've seen in the past ten years.  I watched it twice with my kids.  One of them has probably watched it three times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • EOSHD Pro Color 5 for All Sony cameras
    EOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs
    EOSHD Dynamic Range Enhancer for H.264/H.265
×
×
  • Create New...