Topic: The Movie Thread

@RogerRoger Spice is the Spice of Spice after all! (That may be a too obscure Eurogamer reference now I think about it)

Thor:Ragnarok is both one of the best and most throw away Marvel films to date. I highly recommend it. Essentially self-contained but a fantastic movie. I adore the first Thor - My favourite of the whole MCU really.

Black Panther. Well, there's certainly no denying the commercial success of it. The (very US centric) social significance is dubious - largely because America from the outside only ever seems to want to segregate, accept, admonish and apologise for itself across its entire gamut of people and output.
It's a decent film. Not particularly better or worse than any other MCU film. It does go on a bit, and I find some of the messaging a little confused. But also totally worth a watch. Chad Bozeman and Michael B Jordan are perfect casting.

Thor:Ragnarok is probably the closest thing we ever get to a Planet Hulk movie. Loved the humour in that film, it felt kinda refreshing. Probably because it was directed by a New Zealander.

Surprisingly, I don’t think anyone has left their impressions of Ready Player One yet. I’ll be the first. I’ll preface things by saying I have read the book a couple years ago, and I enjoyed it. So sometimes that taints a person’s enjoyment of a movie, and they become that guy that says, “that part wasn’t in the book” or “they left out the whole part where such-and-such happens!” So, yeah.. I’m trying not to be that guy.

Overall the movie was actually better than I was expecting, even if it deviated from the book quite a bit (see, I’ve already failed 😅). The action scenes and visual representation of The Oasis was impressively done. The CGI was mostly good, outside of a few weird renditions. The acting was so-so however, and there was definitely some strange and awkward dialogue. The relationships of the main characters seemed a bit forced at times, imo. The highlight for a gamer like myself is just the cameos of video game characters and the fact that gaming culture is front and center to the entire plot. The protagonist and the central plot points are very relatable to me and any gamer with a decent appreciation of retro gaming and geek pop culture. But yeah, it was fun to see avatars of Tracer, Goro from Mortal Kombat, Chun-Li, and others pop up and make appearances. I really need to see it again just to pick out all the character cameos in some of the really busy scenes.

So, without spoiling anything for those who have not read the book, it is a fun time and is worth a watch just because it is a major video gaming movie. It has more of a true gamer feel to it than any other movie I’ve seen and captures a smidgen of what gaming culture is like, even if it is exaggerated and overblown in this futuristic virtual reality world, with a plot that becomes a little bit formulaic and bordering on cringe-worthy by the end. There is quite a bit of suspension of disbelief you’ll have to take in with you, as with any fictional fantasy story, but if you don’t think about it too hard, you can probably just enjoy the geekdom contained therein.

I know it sounds almost like I didn’t like the movie, but I really did. But I’m not saying it is the best movie of the year by any stretch. And if you take your non-gamer partner, expect them to be properly bored by the end.
I’d be curious to read other people’s impressions if you’ve seen it.

@Th3solution
Interesting thoughts on RPO. I quite enjoyed the book but it certainly has plenty of issues. I'd like to see the film, but always knew that they would be be able to license everything for a screen adaptation.
There Are plenty of mixed opinions on the film so far, ranging from criticisms extending from the book through the film to some people who really didn't take on board the basic idea of the book.

@RogerRoger it is so very entertaining!
If you've never encountered Waititi before. Check out some of the other stuff he's done involving the Flight of the Conchords guys.
'What We Do In The Shadows' and 'Eagle vs Shark' are two of the best films you could choose to watch.

The Last Jedi is a pretty divisive film. Some friends I have really do hate it - others don't mind it that much and some liked it. Even the ones who liked it do quite easily tear it down though.
For me, it's really not a good film, and following TFA, it's really not particularly good Star Wars either.
It is relatively entertaining though. There are of course sections of dialogue and set pieces that fly really very well. The production design, casting and cinematography are mostly outstanding - but I would expect nothing else at this budget.
The plot is horrible though, and the pacing is just bad.
The biggest problem Star Wars has now, is that Rogue One turned out to be such a great film. It really could've gone either way (and was a hot mess in recently revealed information from the co-writer), and there's plenty of room for a tighter edit: but it really is just ESB good.
TLJ seems so very messy and confused in comparison.

I'd never thought I would be bored watching a Star Wars film, but that was the case in some parts of TLJ. One of my mates even fell asleep in the cinema, something that he he not renowned for.

@KALofKRYPTON @RogerRoger @JohnnyShoulder I watched The Last Jedi again on Blu Ray the other day and I have to say, the great scenes do hold up. And I really appreciated the performances of Benecio Del Toro and Laura Dern more this go around. I didn’t really like Dern the first go around, but in retrospect she does well. Especially Del Toro is great in his role and he may be my favorite part, along with Hamill and Ridley. The issues that the film has are still there, and come across even more glaring in some cases, but I still enjoyed watching it again. Overall I like the direction the film is taking the story, but I realize the way it was rolled out here does leave it open to criticism.

So you didn't like it then?

@RogerRoger Eh. If the abominable Episodes 1 and 2 didn't kill off my "appreciation" for the franchise, then The Last Jedi certainly won't. It has issues, but it's an interesting film.

Then again, for as many times as I've watched the original trilogy, I've never been terribly invested in the universe it sets up. I just think they're fun movies.

@RogerRoger
Can't disagree with much you've said there.
The music is such a non event that I'd not even considered its resonant absence!

Just to make matters worse and spoil one of the satisfying scenes from the film - I'd not noticed this guard's disappearing weapon before...

@KALofKRYPTON The part that I didn’t catch the first 2 times I watched was the part during the Kylo and Luke Force Hologram face off where they start off standing on obviously on a sea of red because of all the laser fire that Kylo rained down on Luke, then after cutting away and coming back, the ground is miraculously white again, because they had to showcase the fact that Luke is not leaving footprints. I guess they felt it was that important to show the feet of Luke and Kylo.
I didn’t catch that until this last viewing and it is a little immersion breaking when you see it. But overall I really enjoyed that last 30 minutes. I liked how Luke came back around and rejoined the rebel cause and became one with the Force, or whatever. Kinda like his father Anakin at the end, reaching for redemption before death
And I saw the fact that Kylo did not realize the clues: the presence of the blue lightsaber, the beard and hair void of grey, the lack of red footprints, the simple fact that all that laser fire didn’t faze him was a sign of Kylo being blinded by the obsession of revenge, his judgment completely clouded by fear and rage, the true enemies of the Force.

@RogerRoger Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your well thought out impressions. I am one of the biggest Star Wars apologists, and I have yet to see a Star Wars movie that I didn’t find a level of enjoyment in. I can look at them with an eye of critique and still find the purpose, meaning, and fun contained therein. (Well, except for Jar-jar. He’s the one thing I can’t make an excuse for). And all your points are valid, although I didn’t experience quite the same emotions as you. Some of the new direction the series is taking has me intrigued, and finding the balance of the old with the new is going to be a tall order going forward.

@RogerRoger I don't think that's a choreography error - I think it's a continuity error.

I'm not saying Rey was going to be stabbed in the back, but I think the scene played out differently at some point, like the ROTS lightsaber swap..

@RogerRoger It could be that - I think the gif was from DigitalSpy.

Given how much of a mess the film is and the recent revelations of how much a mess Rogue One was before the co-writer reshot many key scenes - it seems like Disney are playing pretty fast and loose and hoping things work in the edit.

Thankfully, JJ doesn't work that way - but he's a hell of a lot of work to do to salvage IX.

@RogerRoger With Solo, I'm hoping Ron Howard can make it a better thing than anyone is expecting. He has made some stinkers - but hopefully with so much to draw from he can craft something decent.
He has overseen a huge number of reshoots - pretty much from the day he was brought in as the replacement.
We'll see...

Solo looks... underwhelming. I'll probably see it eventually, but I'm not going to rush to the theater for this one.

@RogerRoger I definitely agree The Last Jedi isn't well-placed in the series, considering what it pulled off. It makes no sense to deconstruct the mythology of Star Wars in the middle film of a new trilogy. It has destroyed almost everything established by The Force Awakens, so what is there to look forward to in Episode IX?

I think it's a decent film, but a terrible middle entry in a trilogy. And it sounds like our feelings aren't too different in this regard. I'm just not actively invested in the wider franchise like you are.

Or maybe I'm just more forgiving of it, considering I hated TFA and was dreading another film like that.

It'll be funny if the new trilogy becomes such a mess that the prequel trilogy actually stands out as the more cohesive and unified Star Wars trilogy in comparison down the road.

I've just seen the trailer for Solo. It looks like a poor man's Mass Effect. Honestly, I'm not hyped for any new Star Wars flicks after watching The Last Jedi and it pains me so.

Moving away from the stars...

I watched Jumanji. It was fun. If you've seen the trailer or have ever seen an action adventure film, there will be no surprises for you.

Light-hearted and good natured, not quite enough peril to go around - but enjoyable.

@Ralizah I agree with the problems it’ll face as a trilogy. Changing directors so much is a bad idea. They should’ve left it with the director of Episode 8. They have completely different styles. JJ Abrams tried to make a normal Star Wars movie, but completely failed at making exciting new lore, or not botching the sith with Kylo Ren. Then episode 8 abandoned everything like new planets and stuff (that casino stilled added a more interesting planet location than anything episode 7 introduced, I just realized that. It wasn’t even trying to. Wow.) and trying to be like previous Star Wars movies and did something totally new and story focused, which I liked. As a result 9 will feel alienated from episode 8. Creating the most dixonnexted trilogy ever in terms of movie style. My opinion of episode 7 also went down after seeing Episode 8, so I think it’ll be a trilogy with one honestly really good movie. The prequels will be a better trilogy. They had enough good ideas and/or lore that added so much to the Star
Wars universe. And I think they get hated on a bit to get hated on. And they’ll feel like a trilogy lol.

And yeah, Solo doesn’t look very good. I usually don’t watch trailers and close my eyes in the theaters when they’re shown, but I didn’t even care about seeing the Solo trailer. I just watched it.

Edit, wow, that was a longer discourse than intended. Oh well, it works.

@RogerRoger TFA was, indeed, a lazy remake of Episode IV with an inferior structure, unlikable characters, and no truly classic moments. The best parts of the film were the nostalgia pandering ones.

Actually, come to think of it, the best part of Abrams' first Star Trek film was also the nostalgia pandering!

His creative limitations are becoming painfully obvious at this point.

I'm just glad the shine has worn off now and people are willing to admit TFA kind of sucked.

Only way I'm seeing a Jar-Jar Binks film is if that meme about him being a Sith lord turns out to be canon, though.

@Jaz007 The reaction to Solo has been really muted, and kind of negative (especially on the heels of TLJ, which has proven to be massively divisive), so I'm curious to see how it impacts the film's box office reception.

@RogerRoger Carry over from the 'What are you playing... thread' as studious as you seem to be with film - I would highly recommend that you check out Mad Max and The Road Warrior. Both are favourites of mine, both vastly different in scope and ultimate direction (there's even a fair school of thought that The Road Warrior is more of a soft reboot/remake of Mad Max due to the apparently rapid overall change in the fabric of society) - I'd like to read your impressions.

The third film, Beyond Thunderdome is also worthy of a watch but gets a bad rep' for being the 'hollywood' movie.

They are all leagues better than Fury Road (aside from sheer spectacle), which I wouldn't recommend to anyone! At all. It is the result of throwing a relatively huge amount of money, hollywood penchant for spectacle and badly cast star at a franchise that needed neither.

The core story of Fury Road isn't particularly bad in the context of the series - but it really didn't (and need to) feature Max at all. The whole thing could've been handled better, and I feel like it would've adapted well as a series rather than movie.

@RogerRoger Only Fury Road on Netflix unfortunately.

If it's the sort of thing that might sway you, The Road Warrior is one of the greatest 'catalogue' Blu Ray transfers out there. Nice clean up job on the print, no discernible DNR and a wonderfully cinematic level of film grain along with ridiculous detail levels. It is one of those discs worth owning for showcasing (good) blu ray transfers.

EDIT: Big Trouble in Little China is another gem of a transfer!