OT: The Avalounge: Nerd Central 2.0

[Patagonia]

Thoughts of comic book movies:

1) I'm wayyy behind on the Marvel films. I'll catch up eventually, but there are just too many and I don't like watching them out of order since they tend to reference each other so much. Generally though Marvel films fall flat when the villain is one-dimensional or is poorly acted, which describes most of them.

2) The Dark Knight is wayyyy overrated in my opinion, and I'm a fan of that movie. It was really well done for most of the film, but those scenes on the ferry, which is the climax of the film, are some of the most cringe-worthy, preachy scenes I've ever seen. I find it hard to say a film is one of the greatest ever in its genre when the climax is awful.

3) Logan was very good, but since it was trying to be a serious action film, I evaluate on those terms, and on those terms is was just very good (not great, not greatest ever). I honestly hope they keep trying to make super hero movies with that tone though - I think there's room for that as well as Marvel's camp.

4) Batman vs Superman was laughably bad for a lot of it, and I really liked Man of Steel (I also enjoyed Superman Returns). I agree that Wonder Woman was probably the highlight, and I enjoyed her solo movie (it just had a crappy villain like most superhero movies).

5) I don't think it makes sense to label a topic as "nerdy" when it's about some of the most popular mainstream movies in the world. If liking superhero movies is nerdy, what the heck is stamp collecting or other unpopular, niche interests?

I grew up reading 1,000s of comics and don't consider myself Nerdy. It seems more accepted today with all these films. Here are my opinions with your Post:

Marvel films are meant to watchable. Purposely watered down with comic relief, even if you know little of the backstory or previous films are being connected. They also cater to the diehard fans with some secret clues, but you can still enjoy the films as stand alones and research online on the clues.

Dark Knight films were incredible. They followed the Comic Writer - Frank Miller's storyline on the emotional depth of the character. Final film was decent, but the initial 2 films are the best ever made including the Marvel movies.

Logan was OK, something towards a different direction as the actor was getting older.

Batman vs Superman could have been very good. The film attempted to merge 3 different storylines.

• Frank Miller - Batman vs Superman;
• Creation of the Justice League;
• Death of Superman By Doomsday.

Unlike the Marvel films with their slow buildup requiring multiple films and years of character development, this became an overwhelming and complicated mess. Diehard comic fans might have understood the transitions between plots, but for the average fan it was difficult to follow.

I enjoy the Marvel films and agree with some of the post on the casting. The most obvious misses were: Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye and Starlord (Guardians).

 

[UncleRisto]

The Macarena? I was so unplugged from pop culture back then, I remember the first day of 7th grade when the entire school did that dance in the gym, and it was me and like four other people who were sitting in the bleachers wondering WTF was going on. I still find out about **** like that only weeks after everybody else is tired of it.

You went too far back, that was already kinda done when I started forming memories.

I was thinking Nelly.

 

[Bubba Thudd]

Oh, extremely nerdy.

I do BJJ and it's VERY nerdy.

You do WHAT???

No, nevermind, I don't want to know!

 

[UncleRisto]

You do WHAT???

No, nevermind, I don't want to know!

bl**j** javelin.

 

[Pokecheque]

About 2/3rds of the way through Justice League. I like it a hell of a whole lot more than the other Snyder offerings, but it's still not good by any means. I think most of that has to do with Wonder Woman playing a big role. I like Ezra Miller's take on the Flash as well. Still deciding on Jason Momoa as Aquaman though.

What's the deal with Cyborg? I can't tell whether it's the SFX or the actor's delivery, but the whole performance just looks painfully awkward. He kinda walks around all slinky-like or something, just...weird.

Again, the moment Superman showed up on screen, the life just kinda went out of the film. Just a completely charmless performance. Still don't know if that's Cavill's fault though, as I thought he was fantastic in Mission Impossible.

 

[Muffin]

I'm actually pretty excited about the MacKinnon Funko Pop coming out, been waiting a while:

 

[hockeyfish]

Travel is addicting.

 

[MarkT]

I don't mind that this stuff has become mainstream, honestly. Yeah, I remember when D&D, video games, and comic books were niche, underground things you were mocked for liking, but I find it refreshing and oddly cathartic to see that stuff becoming more and more "cool". It's sparked a golden age for all those things as more and more money and creativity gets put into them. As somebody who was a "nerd" in grade school I think it's awesome that this is all big now.

I love when formally nerdy stuff goes mainstream. I agree with everything you said here. I just don't think these things should still be considered nerdy once they've gone mainstream. To me, nerdy things are by definition not widely popular.

I grew up reading 1,000s of comics and don't consider myself Nerdy. It seems more accepted today with all these films. Here are my opinions with your Post:

Marvel films are meant to watchable. Purposely watered down with comic relief, even if you know little of the backstory or previous films are being connected. They also cater to the diehard fans with some secret clues, but you can still enjoy the films as stand alones and research online on the clues.

Dark Knight films were incredible. They followed the Comic Writer - Frank Miller's storyline on the emotional depth of the character. Final film was decent, but the initial 2 films are the best ever made including the Marvel movies.

Logan was OK, something towards a different direction as the actor was getting older.

Batman vs Superman could have been very good. The film attempted to merge 3 different storylines.

• Frank Miller - Batman vs Superman;
• Creation of the Justice League;
• Death of Superman By Doomsday.

Unlike the Marvel films with their slow buildup requiring multiple films and years of character development, this became an overwhelming and complicated mess. Diehard comic fans might have understood the transitions between plots, but for the average fan it was difficult to follow.

I enjoy the Marvel films and agree with some of the post on the casting. The most obvious misses were: Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye and Starlord (Guardians).

I know all of this. None of it really changes my opinion. Knowing the Dark Knight borrowed a lot from Frank Miller's work doesn't make the ferry scene magically good. Knowing the tone of Marvel films doesn't make the terrible villains any better. I also didn't say anything about casting...

Travel is addicting.

Heck yeah! Where did you go?

 

[Pokecheque]

Eh...the wife really wants to do some traveling but I simply don't. I'm getting really, really boring in my old age.

 

[Pokecheque]

I grew up reading 1,000s of comics and don't consider myself Nerdy. It seems more accepted today with all these films. Here are my opinions with your Post:

Marvel films are meant to watchable. Purposely watered down with comic relief, even if you know little of the backstory or previous films are being connected. They also cater to the diehard fans with some secret clues, but you can still enjoy the films as stand alones and research online on the clues.

Dark Knight films were incredible. They followed the Comic Writer - Frank Miller's storyline on the emotional depth of the character. Final film was decent, but the initial 2 films are the best ever made including the Marvel movies.

Logan was OK, something towards a different direction as the actor was getting older.

Batman vs Superman could have been very good. The film attempted to merge 3 different storylines.

• Frank Miller - Batman vs Superman;
• Creation of the Justice League;
• Death of Superman By Doomsday.

Unlike the Marvel films with their slow buildup requiring multiple films and years of character development, this became an overwhelming and complicated mess. Diehard comic fans might have understood the transitions between plots, but for the average fan it was difficult to follow.

I enjoy the Marvel films and agree with some of the post on the casting. The most obvious misses were: Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye and Starlord (Guardians).

Most of the time the best comic book movies are ones that just take bits and pieces of the comic storylines and not just make a full scale adaptation. Dark Knight Rises used a little of "No Man's Land" but there were also elements of "Knightfall" and other storylines as well. A good writer can mash those storylines into something coherent, but for some reason Goyer and Snyder (even with some help from Whedon apparently) just didn't get it done.

I think they did well in the casting choices, and did a remarkable job of retaining nearly everyone. The only major recasting in ten effing years of movies was switching Rhodey from Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle (should've been Cheadle all along). I can't really think of one where I said "Oh no, that's not who I pictured in the role at all." And their most brilliant bit of casting has been their very best one--Tom Holland is hands-down the best Spider-Man and it's not even close.

Marvel's TV efforts, however, weren't quite as successful. I don't think it's all Finn Jones's fault Iron Fist was a complete and utter failure, but he certainly wasn't the right choice.

 

[Freudian]

I enjoyed Logan but it was so heavily influenced by the (better movie) Children of Men, that it took something away from it. Still good for a superhero movie.

I'm a bit tired of the formula of big universal baddy has to gather 3/5/6 magical thingies to destroy the universe and heroes has to band together to stop him, so I'm not that into the Avengers/Thor/X-men movies.

I have enjoyed the movies that wink at the genre (Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy) more than the more regular super hero movies.

Spiderman movies, while not bad in themselves, lost me a couple of reboots ago.

Christopher Nolans Dark Knight trilogy are by far the best superhero movies, but those are grounded in other concepts than heroism.

 

[Patagonia]

Most of the time the best comic book movies are ones that just take bits and pieces of the comic storylines and not just make a full scale adaptation. Dark Knight Rises used a little of "No Man's Land" but there were also elements of "Knightfall" and other storylines as well. A good writer can mash those storylines into something coherent, but for some reason Goyer and Snyder (even with some help from Whedon apparently) just didn't get it done.

I think they did well in the casting choices, and did a remarkable job of retaining nearly everyone. The only major recasting in ten effing years of movies was switching Rhodey from Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle (should've been Cheadle all along). I can't really think of one where I said "Oh no, that's not who I pictured in the role at all." And their most brilliant bit of casting has been their very best one--Tom Holland is hands-down the best Spider-Man and it's not even close.

Marvel's TV efforts, however, weren't quite as successful. I don't think it's all Finn Jones's fault Iron Fist was a complete and utter failure, but he certainly wasn't the right choice.

I believe Howard was replace because he was real "D#$K!" Good actor, but extremely arrogant. Marvel TV shows were good, Iron Fist is the exception. I like to see a return of Daredevil - Cox and Kingpin - D'Onofrio through Disney, but rumoured recasting all the characters. Holland is great, though Maguire is the better actor and films.

Disney has done well with the Marvel films, looking forward to their recasting of XMen and FF...so we'll still have many more years superhero storylines.

 

[famicommander]

The Dark Knight (like all Nolan films) is pretentious garbage.

Batman 1966 > Batman 1989 > the rest for live action Bat films.

Adam West >>>>> Cookie Monster Baleman

 

[Foppberg]

The Dark Knight (like all Nolan films) is pretentious garbage.

Batman 1966 > Batman 1989 > the rest for live action Bat films.

Adam West >>>>> Cookie Monster Baleman

Idiot

 

[Pokecheque]

The best part about Batfleck is that it finally addressed the voice thing properly--he wears a voice modulator.

I really didn't like the over-the-top growl Bale did. Keaton did it perfectly just by lowering his voice a little.

I really like Nolan as a director but the Dark Knight trilogy isn't even close to his best work. Memento, to me, is an utterly mesmerizing film.

 

[ASmileyFace]

The Dark Knight (like all Nolan films) is pretentious garbage.

Batman 1966 > Batman 1989 > the rest for live action Bat films.

Adam West >>>>> Cookie Monster Baleman

Holy shit this is a hoooot take. I can respect your opinion but calling TDK franchise pretentious garbage is controversial to say the least

 

[famicommander]

Nolan Batman spends three movies moralizing about not killing people and he kills people in all three movies. At least sociopath Affleck Batman isn't deluding himself.

Also the fight scenes are ridiculously horrible. Bane punches him from like 15 feet away, and some of the random goons in the fight scenes just fall down for no reason. Shaky camera work, terrible choreography, terrible lighting. Batman is supposed to be the world's greatest martial artist.

Also Nolan Batman is a terrible detective.

 

[UncleRisto]

I really like Nolan as a director but the Dark Knight trilogy isn't even close to his best work. Memento, to me, is an utterly mesmerizing film.

Yeah. Memento's really good, The Prestige is pretty good, Interstellar's good, and then Inception is totally garbage. So there's a lot of films besides Batman.

 

[famicommander]

Good thing there was a magic chiropractor at the bottom of that desert prison which didn't have any guards or anything.

Also good thing Batman stopped to take the time to paint a Bat emblem in lighter fluid on a bridge and then light it on fire while Bane was indiscriminately murdering people.

 

[famicommander]

If Christopher Nolan were as good at making movies as he thinks he is, he'd be Denis Villeneuve

 

[hockeyfish]

Heck yeah! Where did you go?

This year has been Ireland/Iceland, New York, San Diego, and Toronto. So far next year Croatia/Switzerland. And I'm planning Hong Kong for next year as well.

 

[Pokecheque]

If Christopher Nolan were as good at making movies as he thinks he is, he'd be Denis Villeneuve

Arrival was fantastic, was torn on BR2049. Story was weak IMO (and I just didn't care for Jared Leto's character much at all) but the visuals and design were insanely good. Haven't seen Prisoners or Sicario though.

 

[MarkT]

This year has been Ireland/Iceland, New York, San Diego, and Toronto. So far next year Croatia/Switzerland. And I'm planning Hong Kong for next year as well.

Nice! When you do Croatia, don't miss Plitvice Lakes. Slovenia is lovely as well.

Hong Kong... hopefully is a better place to visit next year than it is now. Let me know if you want any travel tips for Asia.

Outside of Toronto/New York, I haven't done any on your list. I'm assuming you enjoyed them all?

 

[Pokecheque]

Nolan Batman spends three movies moralizing about not killing people and he kills people in all three movies. At least sociopath Affleck Batman isn't deluding himself.

Also the fight scenes are ridiculously horrible. Bane punches him from like 15 feet away, and some of the random goons in the fight scenes just fall down for no reason. Shaky camera work, terrible choreography, terrible lighting. Batman is supposed to be the world's greatest martial artist.

Also Nolan Batman is a terrible detective.

I'll agree that Nolan is not the best at filming fight scenes. Snyder has him beat in that regard easily.

Who does Baleman kill in the third movie? Talia?

 

[MarkT]

Eh...the wife really wants to do some traveling but I simply don't. I'm getting really, really boring in my old age.

Boring people still travel. Why don't you like it? Or is it just cost? I'm not judging, just curious - there's many reasons to not travel.