Topic: The Movie Thread

Iron Man - 9

Captain America: Winter Soldier - 8
Ant-Man - 8
Spider-man: Homecoming - 8
Ang Lee's Hulk - 8

Doctor Strange - 7
Guardians of the Galaxy - 7

Ant-man and the Wasp - 6.5

Captain America: Civil War - 6
Avengers: Age of Ultron - 6
Iron Man 3 - 6

>5 (ranked in order of decreasing preference from top to bottom)
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2
The Avengers
Captain America: The First Avenger

@JohnnyShoulder There is that, but the film as a whole really grinds my gears.

I appreciate the PTSD angle - but the contrived isolation of Tony, waste of Rebecca Hall, Aldridge Killian and more-so, the apparent fragility of the mark 47... a lot of the plot contrivance in the film just felt too forced in order to tell the story that they were going for. It starts early on with the mansion attack and really doesn't let up.

@KALofKRYPTON I might need to watch IM3 again as I don’t remember it being that bad. The only part that stuck out to me was the ending which seemed inconsistent with the MCU plan. It seems to give the impression that Stark is giving up being Iron Man, and throws away his suits. But then the next movie comes out (I forget which one it was, maybe Age if Ultron) and it’s like, just kidding! I’m still Iron Man! And there is no explanation as to why he comes back, as I recall
But the rest of the movie was fun and I liked all the different suits.

@Th3solution Yeah, on second thought, I probably should've given Avengers a 9. Joss Whedon really did a great job and showed that you can actually make a great superheroes team movie.

The Black Panther movie focused too much on technology, whereas I was hoping to see more of Civil Wars's Black Panther if you get what I mean. Also, I thought the CGI wasn't really that good in a lot of parts.

@KALofKRYPTON Ant-man and the Wasp is not bad but I wouldn't consider it an essential MCU movie. Like I said previously, the villain was meh and the scene that made the most impact was the first post-credit scene.

@JohnnyShoulder I thought Kingsley portrayal as the fake Mandarin was hilarious, tbh. It helps the fact, that I didn't read a lot of Iron Man comics so it didn't bother me that much.

@Ralizah Interesting, I know a lot of people who didn't like Ang Lee's Hulk. Personally, I'm okay with it even though I didn't really like the ending.

MCU movies:
Iron Man - 9
Iron Man 2 - 7-8 (it’s been too long to remnber)
Iron Man 3 - 8.5 or 9 (I really liked the PTSD. Will agree @Th3Solution though, the ending didn’t make sense.)
Captain America - 8
Captain America Winter Soldier - 7
Thor 8.5
Thor: Dark world - 6
Thor Ragnorok - 3 (now this is a bad movie, I don’t understand why people like this mockery.)
Spider-Man: HC - 7.5
Doctor Strange - 7
Guardian - 9
Guardians 2 - 9
Black Panther 8.5
Avengers - 9
Avenger: Age of Ultron 8.5
Civil War: 8
Infinity War: 8.8
Ant-Man - 9
Ant-Man and the Wasp - 7.5

Whenever I line-up all the Marvel movies, I always feel like there should be more.

@WanderingBullet It gets a bad rap, imo, because it's not the sort of irreverent popcorn fare people have been conditioned to expect from superhero movies. The film is visually inventive (really dig the comicbook-style scene transitions), deeply psychological (this is the only film I've seen that tries to treat 'the hulk' as a serious metaphor for the deleterious effects of patriarchal violence and repressed male anger that can 'poison the well' of an otherwise good man's personal life), and has a great sense of weight and gravity to its action sequences.

Definitely a flawed film, but I thought it did a lot of things right.

@Jaz007 Nah, just 20 in total so far with three more slated for next year:

• Captain Marvel
• Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 (currently untitled)
• Spider-Man: Far From Home (would be funny if it actually meant that Peter was stuck in another dimension after Thanos snapped his fingers)lol

@Ralizah Yeah, I too thought the comicbook-style scene transitions were kinda cool.

@WanderingBullet I agree with @Ralizah I dig Ang Lee's Hulk. The film as a whole is very good and tapped a lot of the darker, more psychological fare from the comics of the time (Hulk got really, really dark).

@Th3solution The ending is the most consistent part (if an overly simplified metaphor) of the PTSD story really. The destruction of the suits signifies that the crutch of building the suits, and 'needing' so many suits is no longer needed. When he fetches the robot from the wrecked mansion it is basically a reset. PTSD cured and time to carry on. After that we only see one suit per film (I think).

on a similar - if less popular note:

DCEU or World of, or whatever...

Man of Steel - 9
Batman vs Superman (extended cut) - 8
Wonder Woman - 8
Suicide Squad - 6.5
Justice League - 6 (there is a fan Snyder cut coming very soon, the YouTube clips so far are looking promising)

Predicted scores:
Shazam - 9 (didn't think I'd say that!)
Aquaman - 8.5
Supergirl - 8 (could be a hot mess)
Woner Woman 2 - 8 (could also be a hot mess, also - 80's stuff is getting tired)
The Batman - 8 (I have faith)
Birds of Prey - 7.5
Batgirl - 4 (If Whedon is still attached)
The Flash - 6 (Ezra Miller, the costume, effects etc are terrible)
Phoenix Joker - 7
Leto Joker - 9
Black Adam - 8.5
New Gods - 10!!
Booster Gold - Don't think it will happen
Deathstroke - Don't think it will happen
Cyborg - Don't think it will happen
Green Lantern Corps - Don't think it will happen
Man of Steel sequel - Don't think it will happen

The Dark Knight - 10

Batman Begins - 9.5

Wonder Woman - 8
Batman v. Superman - 8

Justice League - 7.5

Tim Burton's Batman - 7

Man of Steel - 6.5
Batman Returns - 6.5
Suicide Squad - 6.5

The Dark Knight Rises - 6

Daredevil - 4
Batman Forever - 4

Superman '78 - 3
Batman and Robin - 3

Catwoman - 1

There are more animated films than I'd care to list, but a lot of them are quite good!

@Ralizah Daredevil a 4? Batman Forever a 4 Superman The Movie a 3?! #tiggered

@KALofKRYPTON I enjoyed Daredevil in a "bad movie" sort of way, but... yeah.

Ditto for Batman Forever.

Speaking of Tigger, I watched Christopher Robin this weekend. It was fun, but too uneven. It's incredibly melancholy in the first half, and I was digging the approach (using the world of Winnie the Pooh to reflect on the sadness and moral confusion of adult life), but it abruptly shifts gears, hijinks ensure, and turns into yet another rote Disney film about the value of family. There's also this weird deconstructive aspect where other people can see the animals talking and freak out, which unfortunately opens up the film to speculation about the metaphysical nature of these eternal, ageless entities).

@Ralizah ha! I'm not correcting it!

I quite like DD. The director's cut especially.
I also like Batman Forever quite a bit. It was the beginning of the end for franchise at the time, but it's a solid film - better than Batman Returns in a lot of ways.

@RogerRoger I gotta ask: what do you esteem so highly about Batman and Robin? I respect your viewpoints, but this is bordering on Armond White levels of contrariness.

@RogerRoger Great insights! There is absolutely something to be said for enjoying different films in different ways and in different states of mind. Other than sharing similar source material, a film like The Dark Knight has nothing in common with a film like Batman and Robin. I imagine the campiness, puns, gags, and "bad movie charm" throughout just add to the fun of it, yeah?

I noticed you were very rough on The Killing Joke. Do you feel similarly about the graphic novel, or is that more of a reaction to the changes made in the cinematic adaptation?

And, I've gotta say, 47 is a fascinatingly specific score for Batman v Superman.

@Ralizah I’m regards to Christopher Robin shifting gears, I think the fact that he started be happy again fighting the Woozle things, but then went back to the same problems in the real world, not having fully changed yet, balanced it out. It showed it to be a gradual process. I think the movie had a gradual tone shift too. If you noticed, the color pallets gradually changed throughout the movie as the tone became more positive. I also think the fact that getting the important paper back to him at the end actually helping set it apart and put importance on work while keeping the balance and importance of family.

@Ralizah @RogerRoger
Not sure whether you guys knew Eric Bana had a sketch show years ago in Oz. I may have shared this before, but it's just perfect.

"Bam! Freeze!"

I noticed the big shifts, of course, but nothing gradual. It'd be an interesting aspect of the visual design to pay more attention to upon rewatching. Playing with the color pallet in parallel with hidden truths about the characters and world coming out can be used to great effect, as it was in the fantastic "Pleasantville."

The paper ends up being pretty useless, though, doesn't it? All the work he invests into find small areas to make cuts is thrown to the wayside when he gets his zero hour 'give everyone PTO to save your company' idea.

One thing I did really like: the film does a great job of capturing the mannerisms and likeness of the Winnie the Pooh characters and transferring them into a real-world setting.

@Ralizah If she hadn’t brought the paper, he woundn’t have come up with the idea, and therefore lost his job along with everyone else. So what she and the Pooh Bear gang did was important. It didn’t comptlely throw it away like most movies would.