Topic: The Movie Thread

@RogerRoger Well said, and interesting thoughts added on to @Ralizah ‘s.
As an aside, and to add to @zupertramp ‘s comment, I really appreciate the interesting perspective that the forum users bring to the table when discussing movies, games, books, and current events. It’s what keeps me coming back everyday. I love seeing things through other people’s perspectives. I’ll never forget Ral’s review of The Last Jedi. It’s a movie we all like to dump on, but Ral had one of the most insightful takes on the film I’ve ever heard and it really helped me enjoy the film more. And I just find delight in breaking down and interpreting art with people that are so much more savvy and intuitive than me. I learn a lot from everyone.

@zupertramp I dunno, I quite liked it even if it went a bit mad towards the end. It’s essentially Thelma and Louise.

@Ralizah the remake of aladdin is OK but it's just really deflating in a weird way. Even the music sounds like somebody has just resequenced the songs using samples on Cubase or something. I did tap my feet a few times but I felt ashamed for doing so 😂

I quite like the cartoon of BatB too actually. I haven't seen the remake all the way through yet though. I actually worked on it as an extra for a few days during the song she sings around the town about being a contrary person or something, I forget the exact words. That's the only bit I've seen naturally as I tried to spot myself in it (i failed to find myself btw!).

@nessisonett Yeah it's just I expect all the characters from an early 90s outlaw, road movie to be caricatures and I fully expect the scenes to be contrived but idk, maybe it's because I'm older (than when I saw Thelma and Louise) and I just expect more from my storytellers but I just thought this subject deserved better.

There were some poignant bits no doubt and again, the first act is outstanding. Also Daniel Kaluuya is great as usual but oh man, side characters in horror movies make more believable decisions than these two.

Anyway didn't mean to crap on anyone's tastes, it's just one of those films where I'm left feeling like I'm taking crazy pills for not liking it.

@ralphdibny Oh wow, that's quite neat. Even if it's only as an extra, you're immortalized as a part of film history. Very cool!

@zupertramp Queen and Slim should have been good. I was quite into it after the start of the film, and a Thelma and Louise-style drama about modern racism could have been quite poignant. It kind of lost the plot when the ridiculous pimp uncle entered the scene, though, and the script was a bit lacking more broadly.

I didn't dislike it like you did, but it could have been better than it was. Missed opportunity.

@Th3solution Most of the regulars I speak to on these forums, including yourself, are great at holding their own in a conversation. It makes having these discussions a lot of fun. I'm glad I was able to help you appreciate The Last Jedi a bit more.

@RR529 Yeah, Halloween is practically bloodless, and virtually all of the violence happens off-screen or in shadowy environments where you can barely make anything out. It's much more Hitchcock than it is slasher, despite its reputation for kickstarting the growth of that horror subgenre. Easily one of my favorite horror films of all time.

I actually watched A Christmas Story for the first time a few days ago with my family, and was pretty happy with it. Its portrayal of childhood is one of the better ones I've seen in film, and it has a deep level of respect and understanding for its child characters. I love how its characters are allowed to be petty and sympathetic in turns, much as you'd find with real people.

@RogerRoger I do think there is some truth to people in the entertainment industry growing increasingly frustrated with their inability to more explicitly dictate the broader discourse of society. Especially in America after the election, when, like, every person who has ever starred in a movie came out to tell people how to vote, and, honestly, I think it just caused a lot of people to vote the other way out of spite. You could watch American TV shows and movies the season afterward and feel Hollywood screenwriters collectively working out their feelings of grief and frustration in the projects they were working on, lol. This was perhaps most explicitly captured in the season of American Horror Story made after the election, which ends with a Hillary Clinton-coded character shooting an alt-right cult leader in the head.

@Ralizah I'm definitely more visible in other films and TV shows thankfully though! I genuinely couldn't find myself in BatB so it's a bit of a write off in terms of immortalisation haha. They film loads of "Hollywood" movies over here around London!

@ralphdibny Wow, how many movies have you been in?

@Ralizah I couldn't say off the top of my head tbh, I've been doing it semi regularly since like 2011, the first films I worked on were war horse and captain America. The film I'm most visible in is the first Kingsman film and the TV show I've been most visible in was an episode of EastEnders (British soap) that was shown in January 2019 (I think?).

@RR529 Funny, I haven't seen Elf in a while and I guess I didn't realize it was really that dated. It is a good one though.

@Ralizah That makes me feel a little better.

@ralphdibny Sounds cool. I'm jealous.

@zupertramp ahh don't be! It's a completely mixed bag. It's really long hours in addition to travel time, you're often treated like cattle (but not always), but you normally get fed breakfast and lunch and it can be a good laugh if you're working with good people. Also it's not easy to just do by itself as a job for a living due to unreliability and last minute job cancellations. I like it though because I'm interested in film and TV so it's nice to work on stuff I'm interested in or on the same jobs as actors that I'm a fan of. But for every interesting job like Captain America, you'll get a rubbish job like King Arthur! At least it's a job though! I'm not sure what it's like in the US but it's quite easy to get into over here, basically just sign up over the internet! Might be worth a look into it you are interested. Do a bit of research on the agencies though to make sure they are legitimate, I've heard of people being scammed.

@ralphdibny I can see how it might be one of those things that's a tad dull after the initial bout of excitement wears off.

Still, sounds like something to experience. I could let the wife hold down a real job while I occasionally go stand around waiting to be told what to do on movie sets. Probably not too different from the military there. We just need to move to Georgia or something. I'll run it by her lol.

@zupertramp ahh so you want my life then? Haha just kidding, one day I'll grow up and get a real job.... One day.... Maybe

Well I finally watched Wonder Woman 2017 this morning.

... Yeah this was pretty average (and a bit derivative of some of the marvel movies) which was rather disappointing 😧

The fish out of water aspects reminded me of the first Thor film (... And I honestly thought Hemsworth was funnier/had funnier dialogue) whilst the whole world war with a group of ragtag misfits was basically just Captain America: The First Avenger but a bit more fleshed out.

The whole finale was a bit silly and cheesey as well with Diana suddenly realising what Steve had said whilst deafened and the whole thing about humans being flawed felt really rushed.

I'm not sure how it would've worked out without it but I think Ares being real was a bit of a copout with the film and previously mentioned lesson for Diana who has this incredibly childlike niavety about humans til the last 15 minutes of the film

It wasn't outright bad like the DCU films before it but it really wasn't groundbreaking or that interesting sadly.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, I think the movie benefitted from being compared to the other DC movies at the time and so got a little bump in opinion by overachieving the previous standard. I think many fans were happy to have at least a mediocre film. Personally I found enjoyment in almost all the DCU movies, and felt they were all watchable, except for Birds of Prey. Also Green Lantern was a dud, as I recall.
Are you impressed enough to give WW’84 a spin?

@Th3solution

As I’ve mentioned on here previously, I am not a fan of the DC films since Nolan left the Batman franchise (although I love The Joker)... and I do agree that Wonder Woman (the original) did get over appreciated on its release. Whether that was down to the other DC movies being poor, it being the first major Super-hero(ine) movie released or a bit of both... it was definitely treated kindly by the critics and audience alike.

I do think Gal Gadot (and Patty Jenkins) did imbue the character with a solid foundation though. She definitely seemed to ‘fit’ with a Comic Book reader’s understanding of how Wonder Woman could be satisfactorily portrayed on screen... as opposed to Cavill and Afflecks Supes and Bats respectively. The film wasn’t great, particularly the final third but they definitely got something right... something that they appear to have lost sight of for its sequel if the various reviews which I have read are to be believed.

...I dunno. Maybe @Th3solution? 😅

I gotta be honest I still don't think much of Gal Gadot as Diana. Her performance was better (I think?) then in BvS but...

Maybe it's something to do with her dialogue or character but I don't really get much from it. Doesn't help WW as whole isn't that interesting of a character to me really.

The whole she's a demi god malarky kinda gives her a overpowered feeling which is one of my main complaints about Superman (Whom I just cannot get invested in no matter what.)

It probably doesn't help that I am a bit more of a marvel girl... The DC characters aside from Bats have never quite interested me as much.

I don’t mind Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman but probably only because I can’t recall anybody else in the part. I don’t really have anything to rate her performance against.

@nessisonett That's fair. I guess I'd just say I'm of the opinion she could be a little more Xena and a little less super model being that she's an Amazonian warrior princess and all.

Obviously casting has gotta be a pain because you know you're never gonna please everyone but idk, feel like they didn't even try on this one. Just went with slightly exotic hot chick.

@zupertramp I mean, she does like to go on about her time in the IDF so it’s not like her career is solely about sitting around looking pretty. I’m not going to get into the irony of casting an actress who openly supports the invasion of Gaza in a part where ‘war and cruelty was inside humans all along’ but there we go 😂😂

@colonelkilgore The casting of Gadot as WW was perfect. She just fits the character like a glove, and, honestly, that can go a LONG way on its own.

@nessisonett Never watched the 70s TV show with Lynda Carter? The theme song was quite funky.

@RogerRoger Regarding celebrities specifically, I think a lot of them are having trouble adjusting to the fact that their status as entertainment superstars doesn't necessarily give people a reason to listen to their opinions on topics outside of their specialty. And, you know, it's hard to blame them: having people treat you like royalty for years probably gives you an inflated ego, and learning that your endorsement or opinions aren't enough to move the dial on cultural or political issues can be tough, I guess.

I've joked before that Trump is the only villain the MCU heroes were never able to successfully vanquish.

This has only been exacerbated by the increasing tribalization of our society and a growing resentment of Hollywood among the populace in general (which itself has only become worse after the #metoo movement ripped through that part of society and showed off the corruption and moral vacuity of a lot of people who used to be admired).

For my part, I've always admired Dolly Parton's attempts at staying 'above the fray,' in this regard.

More generally, the power of the entertainment superelite has been dramatically watered down by the prevalence of the internet, independent content creators, and the increased democratizing of news and entertainment media. When your voice isn't the only one in the room anymore, when the gatekeepers find that the gate has vanished, it'll lead to some pretty dramatic shake-ups in terms of cultural power and influence.