Let's talk about movies (and TV shows)... Part XVIII

[Bryson]

Well said, but actually I am a big fan of superhero movies. It's precisely why I'm so disappointed and annoyed with them. They're ruining all these cool things.
Black Panther is one I am most disappointed with. Such potential to do something amazing and they dropped the ball entirely for me. Same boring style of humor, same general outline, rushed storylines to the point they don't make the slightest bit of sense. But hey, it was refreshing from a social standpoint so big popular praise, but really, it was garbage imo. I thought I was harsh initially, so I rewatched it last week and man, thought it was even worse.

They're not incapable of doing different things. I think Deadpool was great. Guardian of the Galaxy (didn't watch the 2nd yet) I also liked. So they can do good ones, but most of them are just repeatitive junk.

I thought I was burnt out on superhero movies for awhile there too. Didn't really enjoy the last few X-men movies or Wolverine and Wolverine is one my favorite superheroes. I still have boxes of comic books that I am not sure what to do with. Gotta say I really liked Thor Ragnarok and Doctor Strange especially for a character that doesn't get a lot of exposure. Avengers Infinity Wars was interesting and of course Deadpool is great. Captain America Winter Soldier and Civil War were both pretty well received. Black Panther was ok, was hit or miss in some parts but boy was that movie racist as f***!

 

[le_sean]

I thought I was burnt out on superhero movies for awhile there too. Didn't really enjoy the last few X-men movies or Wolverine and Wolverine is one my favorite superheroes. I still have boxes of comic books that I am not sure what to do with. Gotta say I really liked Thor Ragnarok and Doctor Strange especially for a character that doesn't get a lot of exposure. Avengers Infinity Wars was interesting and of course Deadpool is great. Captain America Winter Soldier and Civil War were both pretty well received. Black Panther was ok, was hit or miss in some parts but boy was that movie racist as ****!

You didn’t enjoy Logan? That’s one of the best superhero movies.

 

[le_sean]

The Florida Project is a must watch.

It was a realistic look at poverty through the innocence of a child. It was very good with some excellent acting (Willem Dafoe was great).

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Well said, but actually I am a big fan of superhero movies. It's precisely why I'm so disappointed and annoyed with them. They're ruining all these cool things.
Black Panther is one I am most disappointed with. Such potential to do something amazing and they dropped the ball entirely for me. Same boring style of humor, same general outline, rushed storylines to the point they don't make the slightest bit of sense. But hey, it was refreshing from a social standpoint so big popular praise, but really, it was garbage imo. I thought I was harsh initially, so I rewatched it last week and man, thought it was even worse.

They're not incapable of doing different things. I think Deadpool was great. Guardian of the Galaxy (didn't watch the 2nd yet) I also liked. So they can do good ones, but most of them are just repeatitive junk.

Okay. I was mistaken. I thought I had previously read you saying you werent a fan of those movies, but i might have mixed you up with someone else or misinterpreted what you have said.

Anyway. Just like you, I hated BP. Hated it even more on my second serving. Hated it for the same reasons you did. Hated the first 2 Thor movies and the 2nd Iron Man. Suicide Squad was probably one of the ****iest superhero movies I've seen.

There are so many great stories and they either chose the right ones, but too often they keep it safe too much and it's crap.

Havent seen DP2 yet, but im sure I'll like it. The Gardians movies are some of my favorites among all MS movies.

I was actually at the edge of my seat for almost half of Infinity War. I was expecting to be disappointed, but man, I was riveted to the theatre screen.

My favorite all-time superhero movie is still Watchmen (not the reason for my nick). Now that was risk-taking and Zach Snyder greatly exploited both the silver age anthological hommage and satirical nature of Alan Moore's work. The style and approach fitted like a glove with the subject matter.

To this day, I still don't get why it's so badly rated. For a superhero movie, it stands out. It's original, violent and highly conceptualized. I guess it might be seen in a bleaker light because of it's massive socio-political undertones and it's critique of American power games and western civilization as a whole.

One movie i am highly eager to see is Flash, although, like Dawn of Justice, it will also partly be a JLA movie. Rumor has it that it will be one of my favorite DC storylines, The Flashpoint Paradox. That storyline, if done correctly, if the right risks are taken, could make an awesome movie.

 

[LaP]

Re-watched Fight Club last week with my bestie and we started talking about how there wouldn't be a major studio who would do that type of movie today and it would probably get loss among the millenials if they ever did.

Mind you, that was Bill Mechanic running Fox Studios in those days and he loved to take risks.

There are so many great books that are just waiting to be made into great movies, but studios are too risk averse because it's big money now.

I think it would be possible to make this movie today is you replaced Pitt with some kind of super hero with a mask

 

[mariolemieux66]

Thanks for bringing this to my attention, im a pretty big vietnam film buff (weirdly enough) and this has been mindblowingly good, so much footage, so much insight, from BOTH sides to boot, love it, cant believe its like Ten 1 hour and a half documentaries

Best war documentary I have watched with some very good footage.

 

[mariolemieux66]

It was a realistic look at poverty through the innocence of a child. It was very good with some excellent acting (Willem Dafoe was great).

There is a Japanese movie that's very similar to The Florida Project called Dare Mo Shiranai( Nobody Knows). If you don't mind subtitles its great.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

I think it would be possible to make this movie today is you replaced Pitt with some kind of super hero with a mask

What would be Super Durden's powers? Hitler-ish charisma?

 

[LaP]

Best war documentary I have watched with some very good footage.

Annihilation is very good too.

Annihilation (TV Mini-Series 2015– ) - IMDb

 

[Bryson]

You didn’t enjoy Logan? That’s one of the best superhero movies.

Logan was a terrible movie and as unnecessary as Terminator 3.

The fate of Logan and Professor X were perfectly wrapped up in X-Men: DOTFP.

Logan had peace, a family, and Jean Grey alive, while Prof X saw his lifelong dream fulfilled. It brought a perfect closure to the story arc of the prior films and had all the requisite cameos and fan references.

But of course, it couldn’t be left well enough alone, and the siren pursuit of MOAR (just as it did for Terminator 3+) trashed the legacy of the movies before it.

Not only does Logan mindlessly restore the bleak future the X-Men fought so hard across several movies to prevent, it doesn’t even makes sense in the context of events. Those young kids who were running around in DOTFP apparently couldn’t have even existed since no mutant births happened post 2004. Logan, who looked fine a few years ago suddenly succumbs to adamantium poisoning and every other mutant on earth vanishes.

Let’s face it. They s*** on the prior film in order to forcefully insert an unneeded, hackneyed, EMOTIONAL(TM) death scene. It was a long, exhausting, nihilistic film with a hackneyed ending. Hugh retired one movie too late.

 

[LaP]

Just watched the first episode of Sacha Baron Cohen's new series, Who is America? First half of the episode I thought was hit or miss but the second half picks up and is pretty much classic SBC/Ali G.

I realize those guys where trolled and there's a lot of editing going on but how the hell a politician falls for such an obvious trolling?

 

[Redux91]

Okay. I was mistaken. I thought I had previously read you saying you werent a fan of those movies, but i might have mixed you up with someone else or misinterpreted what you have said.

Anyway. Just like you, I hated BP. Hated it even more on my second serving. Hated it for the same reasons you did. Hated the first 2 Thor movies and the 2nd Iron Man. Suicide Squad was probably one of the ****iest superhero movies I've seen.

There are so many great stories and they either chose the right ones, but too often they keep it safe too much and it's crap.

Havent seen DP2 yet, but im sure I'll like it. The Gardians movies are some of my favorites among all MS movies.

I was actually at the edge of my seat for almost half of Infinity War. I was expecting to be disappointed, but man, I was riveted to the theatre screen.

My favorite all-time superhero movie is still Watchmen (not the reason for my nick). Now that was risk-taking and Zach Snyder greatly exploited both the silver age anthological hommage and satirical nature of Alan Moore's work. The style and approach fitted like a glove with the subject matter.

To this day, I still don't get why it's so badly rated. For a superhero movie, it stands out. It's original, violent and highly conceptualized. I guess it might be seen in a bleaker light because of it's massive socio-political undertones and it's critique of American power games and western civilization as a whole.

One movie i am highly eager to see is Flash, although, like Dawn of Justice, it will also partly be a JLA movie. Rumor has it that it will be one of my favorite DC storylines, The Flashpoint Paradox. That storyline, if done correctly, if the right risks are taken, could make an awesome movie.

Love Watchmen (directors cut) and own the graphic novel as well

its one of the rare times the Movies ending is actually better than the graphic novels, otherwise its 95% accurate, cant believe the good job Snyder did, and its why i was pumped Snyder was doing man of steel (which i loved), but BvS dawn of justice and Justice league were "ok" , definitely nothing close to marvels avengers unfortunately (even tho Snyder couldnt finish Justice League because of a personal issue and they actually brought IN Avengers 1 and 2 director Joss Whedon to finish the film)

 

[Redux91]

Logan was a terrible movie and as unnecessary as Terminator 3.

The fate of Logan and Professor X were perfectly wrapped up in X-Men: DOTFP.

Logan had peace, a family, and Jean Grey alive, while Prof X saw his lifelong dream fulfilled. It brought a perfect closure to the story arc of the prior films and had all the requisite cameos and fan references.

But of course, it couldn’t be left well enough alone, and the siren pursuit of MOAR (just as it did for Terminator 3+) trashed the legacy of the movies before it.

Not only does Logan mindlessly restore the bleak future the X-Men fought so hard across several movies to prevent, it doesn’t even makes sense in the context of events. Those young kids who were running around in DOTFP apparently couldn’t have even existed since no mutant births happened post 2004. Logan, who looked fine a few years ago suddenly succumbs to adamantium poisoning and every other mutant on earth vanishes.

Let’s face it. They s*** on the prior film in order to forcefully insert an unneeded, hackneyed, EMOTIONAL(TM) death scene. It was a long, exhausting, nihilistic film with a hackneyed ending. Hugh retired one movie too late.

The DoFP ending was not meant to wrap up Logan and Charles storylines, it was meant to cancel out the Xmen 3 terrible timeline where everyone died, this is "nice" closure for them (them being the x-men 1 2 3 cast), "Logan" is a continuation of DoFP's new timeline

"Plot[edit]
In a split timeline, following the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past, by the year 2029, no mutants have been born in 25 years. Logan's healing ability has weakened and he has aged; he spends his days working as a limo driver in El Paso, Texas. In an abandoned smelting plant in northern Mexico, he and mutant tracker Caliban care for 90-year-old Charles Xavier, Logan's mentor and founder of the X-Men. Charles, a psychic, suffers from a brain disease that causes him to have destructive seizures unless controlled with medication; a seizure a year earlier killed seven mutants, leaving Logan, Caliban, and Xavier as the last of the X-Men."

 

[sandviper]

Since we appear to be talking super hero movies, James Gunn was just fired by Disney.

James Gunn Fired as Director of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

Short version, he made some VERY offensive tweets 7-10 years ago that got dug up. Despite having apologized for those six years ago and before joining Disney, I guess lesson is you have to be careful what you say online.

The jokes he made were offensive and distasteful but I believe he is sincere in that he admits to them and owns it but has also evolved and matured since. Without knowing the details (did he disclose this to Disney before joining?), I am not sure if he should have been fired but I understand WHY he was fired.

Meanwhile, it took Disney forever to fire Roseanne Barr.

Switching gears, I saw Ant-Man and the Wasp. Thought it was kinda meh. Not terrible, but not great.

Switching gears some more, I saw A Quiet Place yesterday. I thought it was excellent. Surpassed my expectations, which were quite high given the positive word of mouth.

 

[DAChampion]

I'm watching Ken Burns' documentary on Vietnam now, I'm on episode 2. To my surprise, Montreal Gazette columnist Jack Todd showed up. I wonder if he'll speak some more.

 

[sandviper]

Logan was a terrible movie and as unnecessary as Terminator 3.

The fate of Logan and Professor X were perfectly wrapped up in X-Men: DOTFP.

Logan had peace, a family, and Jean Grey alive, while Prof X saw his lifelong dream fulfilled. It brought a perfect closure to the story arc of the prior films and had all the requisite cameos and fan references.

I think @Redux91 answered this part very well.

Not only does Logan mindlessly restore the bleak future the X-Men fought so hard across several movies to prevent, it doesn’t even makes sense in the context of events. Those young kids who were running around in DOTFP apparently couldn’t have even existed since no mutant births happened post 2004. Logan, who looked fine a few years ago suddenly succumbs to adamantium poisoning and every other mutant on earth vanishes.

Logan I used to believe takes place in a parallel timeline from the X-Men "prime" universe. My understanding that there were no more mutants born after 2004, which is around the time the dam broke at the end and Jean Grey died. They mentioned this in Logan where whatever compound they were developing to suppress the X-gene had gotten into the water.

However, I will admit the timeline gets muddy as the samurai sword from The Wolverine was present in Logan. This would mean both DoFP and The Wolverine are part of this timeline, which is the "corrected one". Meaning, X-Men 3 was never made.

So basically, the chronology is X-Men 1, X-Men 2, X-Men 3 (then removed), The Wolverine, DoFP then Logan.

Anyhow, as for the kids running around, they were the result of genetic manipulation. I don't think they were "born" mutants, but I could be wrong. It is also important to mention that I think the X-gene was suppressed, not eliminated.

Logan takes place in 2029. Assuming if DoFP is canon in this universe, that ends in 2023. It is possible Logan himself may had been getting sick from his adamantium then, but even if he appeared fine, that would be 6 years prior. I hate to bring in real-life topics, but my uncle passed from ALS. He appeared completely healthy in 2010, but just plummeted in 2011 to 2013 until he passed. Switching back to fiction, I think it is plausible Logan took time to get sick but I guess his healing factor took a beating. Also, if DoFP is canon, that means The Wolverine was also and his healing factor took a beating there as well.

Let’s face it. They s*** on the prior film in order to forcefully insert an unneeded, hackneyed, EMOTIONAL(TM) death scene. It was a long, exhausting, nihilistic film with a hackneyed ending.

I actually though the final death scene was perfect. If you watch the last lines of Yukio to Logan, she predicts exactly how he is going to die. I'm paraphrasing, but it was something along the lines of being covered in blood with his heart in his hands. That was a metaphor as his heart was his daughter.

Anyhow, I initially was mixed about Logan when I first saw it since when it comes to X-Men, I am used to the spectacle. However, I eventually appreciated it and thinking about the nods to his character's history and overall arc, I thought it was well done.

 

[Runner77]

Since we appear to be talking super hero movies, James Gunn was just fired by Disney.

James Gunn Fired as Director of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

Short version, he made some VERY offensive tweets 7-10 years ago that got dug up. Despite having apologized for those six years ago and before joining Disney, I guess lesson is you have to be careful what you say online.

And to top it all off, he ruined one of the all-time coolest names. I mean, James Gunn? Sign me up, minus the offensive tweets.

 

[Mrb1p]

Since we appear to be talking super hero movies, James Gunn was just fired by Disney.

James Gunn Fired as Director of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

Short version, he made some VERY offensive tweets 7-10 years ago that got dug up. Despite having apologized for those six years ago and before joining Disney, I guess lesson is you have to be careful what you say online.

The jokes he made were offensive and distasteful but I believe he is sincere in that he admits to them and owns it but has also evolved and matured since. Without knowing the details (did he disclose this to Disney before joining?), I am not sure if he should have been fired but I understand WHY he was fired.

Meanwhile, it took Disney forever to fire Roseanne Barr.

Switching gears, I saw Ant-Man and the Wasp. Thought it was kinda meh. Not terrible, but not great.

Switching gears some more, I saw A Quiet Place yesterday. I thought it was excellent. Surpassed my expectations, which were quite high given the positive word of mouth.

Gotta be honest, this is the only movie that made me tear up, since Lion King back when I was 5.

 

[GoodKiwi]

Just looked it up on RT -- fantastic ratings. I know GoodKiwi is very bullish about the lead actor, Giovanni Ribisi. Got me intrigued now, where do I watch this? Will I have to dig it up online somewhere?

Ribisi is in the top tier of active actors, he's in a very small, select group if you ask me. He hasn't gotten his big break as of right now, and, to be honest, I'm not sure why that hasn't happened yet. His acting range alone puts him easily in top 5 IMO. For example, as much as I love Phoenix (and I do view him as the top male actor as of this moment), he can't display the same range as Ribisi can IMO. He's fantastic in "Sneaky Pete" and makes the series worth watching all by himself.

 

[GoodKiwi]

Really enjoyed "You Were Never Really Here". One of the best films I'd seen this year (granted, I do not watch a lot of recent movies anymore).

It was refreshing to see a 75 minute film that didn't drag its feet and just punched its viewer all along. This art has largely been absent in the industry as of late. I also liked the brutality of it, the camera takes that did nothing but emphasize that. It felt confident and didn't shy away from its form. It reminded of of "Drive" because of the hyper-stylistics, but, as opposed to the latter, it didn't get in the way here. I knew it was there, but it didn't deter me from enjoying it.

The ending scene was masterful I felt. I kept asking myself throughout - "how can they wrap this up successfully?". What they did surprised me in a good way, it stood out as the very highlight of the movie to me. I still think about the message being sent here days after seeing it unfold. The progression from indifference and insignificance (life going right on at the diner after the shooting) to hope and rebirth all in a span of just about a minute was thrilling. There's more to it, I'm sure. I haven't gotten to the bottom of it just yet.

 

[DAChampion]

Logan was a terrible movie and as unnecessary as Terminator 3.

The fate of Logan and Professor X were perfectly wrapped up in X-Men: DOTFP.

Logan had peace, a family, and Jean Grey alive, while Prof X saw his lifelong dream fulfilled. It brought a perfect closure to the story arc of the prior films and had all the requisite cameos and fan references.

But of course, it couldn’t be left well enough alone, and the siren pursuit of MOAR (just as it did for Terminator 3+) trashed the legacy of the movies before it.

Not only does Logan mindlessly restore the bleak future the X-Men fought so hard across several movies to prevent, it doesn’t even makes sense in the context of events. Those young kids who were running around in DOTFP apparently couldn’t have even existed since no mutant births happened post 2004. Logan, who looked fine a few years ago suddenly succumbs to adamantium poisoning and every other mutant on earth vanishes.

Let’s face it. They s*** on the prior film in order to forcefully insert an unneeded, hackneyed, EMOTIONAL(TM) death scene. It was a long, exhausting, nihilistic film with a hackneyed ending. Hugh retired one movie too late.

Logan was actually a good movie though, whereas Days of Future Past + Apocalypse ... not so much.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Logan was actually a good movie though, whereas Days of Future Past + Apocalypse ... not so much.

I friggin love DOFP. Im a huge dystopia and time travel movie fan, and love comic books to boot, so it was right down my alley.

Really loved the two Quicksilver scenes in both movies. Epic.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

Since we appear to be talking super hero movies, James Gunn was just fired by Disney.

James Gunn Fired as Director of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'

Short version, he made some VERY offensive tweets 7-10 years ago that got dug up. Despite having apologized for those six years ago and before joining Disney, I guess lesson is you have to be careful what you say online.

The jokes he made were offensive and distasteful but I believe he is sincere in that he admits to them and owns it but has also evolved and matured since. Without knowing the details (did he disclose this to Disney before joining?), I am not sure if he should have been fired but I understand WHY he was fired.

Meanwhile, it took Disney forever to fire Roseanne Barr.

Switching gears, I saw Ant-Man and the Wasp. Thought it was kinda meh. Not terrible, but not great.

Switching gears some more, I saw A Quiet Place yesterday. I thought it was excellent. Surpassed my expectations, which were quite high given the positive word of mouth.

That's a shame. Those movies were his vision. Not too sure about Vol 3 now. Depends on who gets the chair.

What was the nature of those comments?








Couldn't they have simply send him to some user group for users of inapproriate language?

 

[sandviper]

That's a shame. Those movies were his vision. Not too sure abour Vol 3 now. Depends on who gets the chair.

I believe Gunn was supposed to be the overseer of the whole cosmic side of the MCU.

Not sure if he’d be the ideal choice but since he did a great job with Ragnorok, maybe Waititi can take over. If they look outside their current stable of directors, I am not sure right now. I’d prefer more of a risk taker or somebody who thinks outside the box.

 

[DAChampion]

I friggin love DOFP. Im a huge dystopia and time travel movie fan, and love comic books to boot, so it was right down my alley.

Really loved the two Quicksilver scenes in both movies. Epic.

Those were cool scenes, but bad storytelling. Ultimately the narrative should come first, and that's not what happened there.

Why did Quicksilver have a cool scene?
To free Magneto.
Why did they free Magneto?
Because old Magneto told them that they would need young Magneto.
Was he needed?
No, so it was kind of pointless. The plot was unnatural and inorganic.