Topic: The Movie Thread

@LN78 nah that was Rebels

@LN78 There are a couple of things in the Marvel line up that have me interested, but I've gone from being hyped for every release to just seeing how each film turns out. All the connectivity of everything was a bit tiresome in the end. My favourite super hero flicks of recent times are (in no order) Deadpool, Logan, Into The Spider-Verse, Guardians of the Galaxy and Dr Strange. Rewind a few years and no Fox or Sony ones would be in there.

I'll have to agree with the sentiment that recently, my favorite superhero films have been the more standalone stuff (i.e. Into the Spider-Verse, The Wolverine, and even the LEGO Batman Movie, which I recently watched, was a hoot).

@LN78 Yeah Dredd was awesome. I know it is not a movie but have you seen a The Boys on Amazon Prime? It's got the same leading actor, Karl Urban. His dodgy accent aside, everyone I know that has seen it has good things to say about it. Can't wait to watch when I next subscribe to Prime.

I watched It (2017) today after a close friend of mine kept telling me to watch it. Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan. I'm not the biggest fan of the horror genre in general, but The Haunting of Hill House was my favourite TV show last year. I had hoped It would be more like that, and less like the generically "scary" film it ended up being. Watching it felt like the creators tried to come up with something scary every scene to put you on edge, which for me just eliminates all tension and makes the movie predictable and repetitive when it focuses solely on that. The Losers Club was all fairly one dimensional, with the exception of Beverly who had a slight bit more characterisation. The movie was pretty and well shot at least, I'll give it that. I suppose a lot of it just comes down to personal preference, but I just don't appreciate the whole scare-a-minute structure of (most?) horror films. Even worse when, like this movie, the scares aren't even actually that scary.

Into the Spider-verse is arguably the best Spider-man movie but I was surprised that it only made $375.5 million worldwide at the box office. It's the lowest among all the Spider-man movies. Even Spider-man 3 and Venom made $800+ million.

Watched MIB International over the weekend. Still not entirely sure why

It's not the worst film I've ever seen, not even the worst MIB film (here's looking at you, MIB2) - but it starts so very badly. I'd say that the first quarter - if not third of the film had me so close to switching it off that I'd have been raging if I'd paid to see it at the cinema.

It does recover, to the point where I suspect that much of the film was shot by different people. Hemsworth is the weak link, unsurprisingly, his jolly idiot by-way-of-Thor performance really doesn't do much for him. Thompson is fine, Neeson is Neeson etc etc.

Don't go out of your way to see it

@LN78 Haven't seen El Royale; saw him in some crappy hack type thing and a couple of other roles. I think his success in Rush is having such a wealth of interview footage of Hunt to draw from.

Only really seen Thompson in the MCU stuff and Creed I think, she's good though. Seems to have a knack for bringing a certain verisimilitude to her delivery.

@LN78 Yeah I've got some of the comic books so am interested to see how the series compares. A couple of mates that have seen say it took a couple of episodes for their brains to disconnect from the comic books. Thanks for the heads up!

Also thought Hemsworth was good playing against type in El Royale, although the ending for me was not entirely convincing in its execution.

@RogerRoger Unless you want a permanent Transformers 2 face I would avoid the other Ocean's films. If you are after a good heist movies I can reccomend American Animals which I saw yesterday. It is based on a true story of 4 university kids who plan to steal a number of rare books worth 12 million. What made it a bit more interesting for me is that cuts between interviews and narration of the real life people involved with the actual telling of the film. It is all done really seamlessly. At times the people will tell different versions of events, and the film will change things accordingly. This could the colour of someone's scarf to where something happened. I quite liked that and it doesn't take itself too seriously, almost mocking how cliche some things are. They even use the same Elvis Presley song from one of the Ocean's film in one scene. There is no one really famous, the only actor I recognised is the guy who plays Quicksilver the the recent X Men films. He does a good job of playing this squirrelly unhinged type of character.

@RogerRoger I really enjoyed Ocean's Thirteen, although I did delay watching it for years, since I was so scarred by the second film. Ocean's Eight wasn't terrible either to be honest, but it wasn't great.

Ocean's Twelve is just such a bad, bad film. So bad. The Julia Roberts bit - what were they thinking????? I'm usually pretty laid back when it comes to film and will find the positives in any old rubbish, but Ocean's Twelve had me ranting for ages afterwards.

@RogerRoger When even the smooth operator that is Vincent Cassel can't save it, you're done for.

Ocean's 13 does indeed have much more in common with 11. If anything it's a little less daft and a bit more down to earth, although I might be misremembering and I should probably give it another watch before recommending it so highly. Oh well.

I’ve been wondering when to report on this, and I guess now is as good a time as any to give the counter-point to the MCU, since there is a general consensus here that the movies are at best, over-rated and at worst, a travesty of cinema. Some of you may remember I wanted to watch all the movies again, and I’m happy to relay, I’m half way there —

My intent when I took on the Sisyphean task of watching all 22 MCU movies in rapid succession was to report, at least in broad strokes, what my impressions were in re-experiencing the series as one epic piece. To see if watching 11 years worth of films in the course of a few weeks would help the long running diegesis hold up. Of course nearly 60 hours of Superhero antics is more than anyone should have to endure, but I’m a glutton for punishment.

The original thought in my twisted mind was to watch one movie every couple nights and then culminate with seeing End Game for only my second time once it was released for home consumption. Well, the concluding entry of the Infinity Stone thread has been released now for a while and I am still far from it. I have watched 11 of the 22 movies over the last 2 months and I am committed to watching the last 10 before I experience End Game again. Ideally, I’d hoped to see the saga of the Infinity Stones crystallize more overtly through a re-watch, and for the most part, I think that’s what is happening. But it is taking me longer than I originally thought it would take to go through the series.

A breakdown of each individual movie is definitely beyond the scope of this post and would probably result in a permanent ban for the sheer boredom it would create. But I will say that there is definite synergy between the different installments — more so than I originally realized. I knew that the producers had a long term plan for where the overarching plot lines were supposed to be going, and this is clear in not only the bread crumbs that are left scattered randomly through the films, but more obviously in most of the post credits scenes which invariably hint at future story points.

Part of the genius of the series is the glorified McGuffins known as the Infinity Stones. Years ago, when I originally watched Capt America: The First Avenger and Thor, I didn’t really understand the importance of the Tesseract. And clearly when I first saw Thor: Dark World, I had no idea what to make of the Aether. Seeing all the movies back-to-back with the end game in mind has added a layer of enjoyment and depth to the series.

I have to say that of the first 11 films (and I am watching them not in order of release, but in order of storyline chronology) Guardians of the Galaxy stands out as a movie that just puts a smile on your face no matter how many times you see it. Perhaps it helps that, with the introduction of the power stone, it’s the first film to overtly offer the exposition regarding the stones and their significance. But actually, I think it’s mostly the levity that makes it so fun to watch.
The most disappointing film so far? Probably The Incredible Hulk or Capt. America: The First Avenger. Both are quite boring when compared to the latter outings. Both lack the humor that is seen in the rest of the MCU and they seem to take themselves too seriously.

I guess one of the most jarring aspects of trying to watch the films in quick succession is a couple notable inconsistencies. First of all, Howard Stark’s character is so integral into establishing much of the early storyline, but I think he was handled poorly. First of all the Howard Stark from TFA, the one who is working on the super solider project, and showing off his flying car invention at the expo, and working with the only known supply of vibranium in the world to make a shield, and doing experiments on the otherworldly power of the Tessaract, and developing the answer to the world’s energy crisis with the arc reactor, and working on the Manhattan Project to create the atomic bomb, and collaborating with Hank Pym on the Pym particle, oh... and flying the plane for Cap’s reconnaissance mission (!? okay, isn’t this getting a little ridiculous?) Sure, superhero movies are not supposed to be believable or founded in reality, but the role of Howard Stark seems so unusual, and random.
I think the change of actors from young Stark (Dominic Cooper) to old Stark(John Slattery) is jarring as well. They really don’t seem like the same person, and I mean more than just their appearance. They don’t act remotely the same. Young Stark is kind of this forgettable, stand-in actor to help the story move along, with no meaningful character development. As the viewer, you don’t foster any connection or interest in him, despite his being at the core of everything Avengers and SHIELD related. The older Stark, as seen in the later Iron Man and Cap America films flashbacks, is much more interesting to me. His strained relationship with Tony is something I can find interesting, and seems more believable. But it’s as if the two portrayals of Stark are two different people entirely. (I should remark that I haven’t watched the TV shows - “Agents of SHIELD” or “Agent Carter” which supposedly adds to the characterization of young Stark)

The sudden change of actor for the Rhodey/War Machine and for Bruce Banner was also disrupting to the continuity, but they didn’t bother me as much as Howard Stark.

These quibbles aside, I am really enjoying the series again. I do have reservations about what the next phase of the MCU might bring, but I think they will continue to print money. I’m sure the freight train will slow down eventually, but so far it appears to still be lumbering ahead with massive momentum.

@Gremio108 Fun fact (well I think it is a fact), the script for Oceans Twelve wasn't meant to be a Oceans film but was changed to it to get the sequel fast tracked.

Just my two cents - Ocean's Eight is a pretty crap film. There isn't a single believable relationship or exchange of dialogue in the whole thing. It's entirely a contrivance built around one idea that falls pretty flat.

It could be helped if the two leads were able to actually emote with their faces; Cate Blanchett's face is mostly immobile, and Bullock appears to be wearing a Michael Jackson death mask for most of the film. Reshoots are pretty easy to spot as I recall, as Bullock's face especially is rather different looking in a couple of scenes.

If anything, it's a(nother) damning indictment of fairly standard expectations of older women in Hollywood.

Did you guys know that John Krasinski was initially Marvel's first choice to play Captain America? Nothing against Krasinski, but I think it's great that Evans got the role since he looks more the part.
I also thought that Emily Blunt would've been a good choice for Black Widow back then. Now there are rumours that Marvel are eyeing both of them to be Reed and Sue Richards for the Fantastic Four reboot.

@Th3solution Earlier this year I watched all of the MCU films in chronological order in preparation to see Endgame at the cinema. Unfortunately I never got round to actually going because I was unwell. Looking forward to watching the home release!

It was really interesting watching the series progress; earlier ones are far more patchy in their quality, whereas I found I really enjoyed all of the more recent films. The Incredible Hulk is downright mediocre, Captain America The First Avenger quite dry and I'm not a massive fan of Age of Ultron. My favourites are easily Ant Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy films and Thor Ragnarok - simply because of how fun they are.

@LN78 @RogerRoger Thanks, I’m impressed anyone actually made it through that huge wall of text. 😅 I didn’t realize how long I droned on.

But yeah, LN, you bring up a good question, which I’ll try to not take too many paragraphs to discuss. 😛

In general, if one compares CA: TFA to CM, there is just an overall polish to the more recent film which was absent early on. Special effects are more dazzling, dialogue is more sharp, editing keeps the tone more even, and characters are easier to invest in. This is just my opinion, of course.

Also there is clearly a change in tone from the early films to the latter ones, as I remarked before. Namely the humor and lighthearted nature they were able to deftly weave into the rather somber set of events. It does cheapen the impact of death and destruction but it makes for the movies to be more accessible to a younger audience.
The side by side comparison of the two Captains’ (America and Marvel) entry films is a good example of this phenomenon. The other obvious thing that jumps out is how much bolder and socially conscious the latter entries become. (Not trying to get political here, just making an observation) With Captain Marvel being the first film with a female lead (and many profess that clues suggest is a lesbian as well), it does bring out a certain fresh take on the superhero theme. I would agree with some people that there is a hint of heavy-handedness (culminated by the now famous ‘girl-power’ sequence in End Game that is so memorable) but I don’t think it’s as terribly manipulative as some have made it out to be. But that’s a whole other discussion in and of itself that I’m not qualified to make, nor am I interested to. I only know that as a viewer, the diversity seems to keep the “cookie cutter” to a minimum.

And as far as that homogeneity is concerned, you’re absolutely correct. When you strip it down, each of the entries is the same basic format —> person is weak and common, person has some fantastical event to grant super powers (or discovers some preexisting superior genetic heritage), person has to learn how to deal with and use these powers, evil entity also has super power, hero fights the evil all for some societal and morally altruistic motivation. Mix in some ‘coming of age’ type of epiphany and voila! - There’s your superhero origin story.
This has been the core of fantasy/Sci-Fi drama for ages. So, it is ironic how the presentation is made of the wonderful ‘diversity’ achieved in Captain Marvel for example, but at its core, it’s the same kind of recycled story as Captain America, Spider-Man, Hulk, Ant-Man, Superman, Luke Skywalker, etc.
Is the same basic story told better in the latter film vs. the former? Well, I think CM does flow a little better as pure entertainment and when viewed side by side without the bias of superhero fatigue, Disney has improved in the storytelling department imo. Others may disagree. (Again, the whole Stark thing just bothers me, so I might be biased)

I think in the end, this homogeneity might be what kills the superhero boom. There are only so many ways to tell the superhero arc. Now last night I watched Captain America: The Winter Soldier (#12!) and this is a really smart film. It takes on some of these tropes and is able to tell a story that creates legitimate concern for our heroes’ plight and has a clever overarching theme - that the ‘Greatest Generation’ was able to defeat evil head on in WW2, so Hydra countered through subterfuge and went about defeating freedom by gradually creating safety concerns over many years such that we willfully gave up those freedoms in the name of protection and safety. It’s a theme that is remarkably germane to current society. As far as impact, the fact that many secondary staple characters of SHIELD have been double agents for Hydra all along is a great reveal. I think it’s one of the MCU’s best because of the wonderful intrigue, the different style of storytelling, great action and choreography, and the stellar performances (such as Robert Redford who seems to command the screen every times he’s in a scene). If Disney/Marvel can mix up the genre with novel approaches like this, then the next phase might avoid getting stale.

Oops... went long again. Oh well. That’s probably more than you wanted 😛.
Anyways, I’ll keep posting further thoughts as I make my way to the End Game. I’ll try not to take too much space though and keep things to just a few entries in the coming weeks.

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@mookysam I saw your post after I had already created that long discourse above. Interesting to hear your thoughts and when you do see End Game I’ll be curious about your take on it. I hope I haven’t inadvertently spoiled anything about it! I thought everyone had seen it already 😅.

@mookysam Oh shoot I forgot Ragnorok when I listed my fave super hero films the other day. I love Taika Waititi's direction and like you said such a fun movie.

It's funny you guys are talking about the Ocean's films, as I watched Ocean's 11 just last night. Very enjoyable. I think we're planning on watching the three of them — it'll be interesting to see the difference between 11 and 12.

@Rudy_Manchego @RogerRoger Yep, I could totally see that. It would explain why it feels like three different films, all of which are terrible.

@Quintumply Your hype levels for Ocean's 12 must be through the roof after reading this thread.

Incidentally, I watched The Monuments Men last night, which is kind of like a World War II Ocean's Eleven. It was alright.