Last Good Movie You Saw

[deanb]

I've a suspicion that many have seen Spirited Away. I am sad to say despite efforts on the contrary its my only Ghibli film I've seen (in whole) to date. 

 

@Mister JackJack I assume that's not a prequel to Birdman.

 

In other news my three week run of films continues. 

Pacific Rim: Uprising

It's actually quite a surprising film. Some unexpected turns. It's the usual silliness just ramped up a ton. John Boyega continues to kill it and happily does much of the heavy lifting.

Some old favourites show up (as long as they're not nuked in the first). There is a bit near the end than runs counter to some of the lore of the first in order to set up the finale but you can ignore that. 

Also just ignore that for some reason they ramped up production of Jaegers and pilot training despite it being a decade after the war ended (on a shoe string). 

 

 

[TheMightyEthan]

@Ultra TCP I'm not sure whether you're being serious or not about not really being aware of Studio Ghibli...

[deanb]

Ready Player One

 

This Spielberg guy is a dab hand at adaptations, who knew!

So I've only read about half the book, and it follows a few core beats but changes up quite a lot of other stuff and that's right from the get go with the race for the first challenge(instead of it still being an unknown in the book, and also not a race), and I think that works out quite well in showing how streamlined a lot of the film is compared to the books. Which means next to no chunks on expository dialogue of "oh as we know school high was the school in that 80s movie which was Hallidays favourite film during 1988 which is also when that game came out he likes". (apart from for bits of the final quest where it's thematically important). A lot of the reference stuff is mainly visual so takes up like zero time and is more there for you to be like "huh, there's that thing" and in chunks there's so much going on that you will both miss a chunk, and there's enough for everyone to get something from it.

I think it zips along at a good pace, with nice moments of pause in it which are kind of needed (it throws you well into the deep end of everything all on screen right from the get go, which makes sense given later remarks n sort of a core chunk of the film theme).

 

It is at its core a videogame retelling of Willy Wonka; kooky guy has a prize to win his fortune with hi-jinks and 'tests' along the way. I do feel that despite it not being Spielbergs first dabble into pure CGI and he's not exactly one to shy away from effects work there was some unsureness on parts of the Oasis segments, compared to the IRL stuff that felt much more like it had Spielbergs touch to it and I do wonder if there was a lot of that left to ILM to deal with and come up with when it wasn't more character centric components. Especially around the race and the final battle.

 

Also there's Planet Doom which I'm not entirely clear if it's more of a reference to Doom the videogame or like Mount Doom and how uninspired a name that was for the finale location. Or both.

 

Basically it's a pretty fine adaptation, some of it's quite trope heavy (as to be expected) but it's a pretty neat film, and potentially a good dive into some ideas hidden in that might inspire presenting film in a VR friendly way (maybe).

 

[Mr. GOH!]

Black Panther.

 

I think that Black Panther is not as good a movie as a lot of folks claim. It's still one of the strongest Marvel movies, though it's not as good a film as, say, The Dark Knight or Logan.

that said, it's still very fun and the performances were all quite good. Killmonger is among the best MCU villains, along with Zemo, Robert Redford, and the Purple Man, even though I think BP does not do a very good job actually exploring his worldview (and those of other Wakandans). That the story itself was about Wakanda's role in the world rather than another Infinity Stone or baddie seeking to blow up a city was refreshing. I also liked how T'challa very much depended on his family and friends for support and those characters were central to the story rather than set dressing or teases. Coogler also does a good job, for the most part, of establishing Wakanda as a place, although the film does not really explain how it all works together to make a cohesive nation-state. 

 

I do have a few questions and gripes about the setting. Why are some Wakandans low-tech herders while others work in labs that look like they belong in Guardians of the Galaxy movies? Why does Wakanda City sometimes look super-sleek and other times looks like it was built on the same sets used for  the trash planet in Thor: Ragnarok? How does vibranium give people magical powers?

 

It also felt weird that a super-advanced society would happily adopt and maintain a rulership-by-combat system, which strikes me as a particularly this-setting-was-designed by-well-meaning-but-still-kinda-racist-white-people sort of thing. 

 

There was a huge helping a standard Marvel nonsense, from the first- and second-act action sequences for the sake of action sequences, to the "battle where two groups charge at each other in a conveniently abandoned area as if that made any sense." I particularly disliked how the last battle felt like it took place on an empty lot with a freshly-mown lawn conveniently near some Disney studio and, for the BP/Killmonger fight, in CGI befitting 2004 rather than 2018.

 

Edit RP1 is a fine adaption? So it's just as silly and dumb as the book?

 

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by Mr. GOH!

[deanb]

The "low-tech herders" are just for show and cover, as seen later on thier woven cloaks are high tech force fields n such. As established in early film Wakanda is seen as a crappy farming country with minimal wealth though no desire for outside aid.

 

As for 'magical powers' from Vibranium: as established by Spider-man in Civil War: "that shield doesn't obey the laws of physics". Though the strength of the Black Panther n the dream dead world thing is assumed to be largely tied to the Soul Stone rather than the vibranium.

[Mr. GOH!]

I get that the herders had hi-tech weapons; it just seemed like they nonetheless live in mud huts.

 

Edit: I thought Spider-Man's quip was a throwaway line, but I get that vibranium's a fantastic material. Nothing has suggested that it also bequeaths magical powers to people, however. The movie was pretty clear that the heart-shaped herb's properties are based on vibranium and the soul-stone is not mentioned. I'm all for good fantastic materials and powers, but vibranium seems to be becoming a lazy way to give folks invulnerabilties and superpowers. See: https://www.theonion.com/sci-fi-writer-attributes-everything-mysterious-to-quant-1819570928

 

I guess a retcon/reveal in Infinity War that it was the Soul Stone all along that gave BPs their powers is probably likely.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Mr. GOH!

[Hot Heart]

I would say highly likely.

[deanb]

Love, Simon

 

Went to go see this with a colleague and her friend. She's obviously never seen Arrested Development.

 

It's a fairly standard rom-com with a bit of a gay coming out wrapping on it with essentially the ending of "Never Been Kissed" thrown in. It's warm-hearted, fun characters n more. Maybe my main complaint would be it's a bit naive, and I imagine with time it'll be considered quite simplistic. It's based on a book, and I'm to understand the book portrays the blackmailing character a lot less sympathetically than he is in the film as a sort of goofball/class clown type.

 

Really the main failing is on maybe having more characters than the director could handle (though unfortunately they're nearly all kind of needed, especially for the love triangle/web thing going on). Though it works out quite well on some of the more focused bits.

 

I'd say it's a decent film, much more packed cinema than I'd expected too, but maybe more targeted at a younger audience especially those that maybe need some comfort and reassurance. Which I guess might be why it is kind of a slightly rose-tinted view and some of the bits that actually are bad (blackmailing isn't pushed upon much and it's played for laughs that the teacher has straight up assumed the two known gay kids are partners). Otherwise nearly everyone is quite supportive (on the coming out front at least) and probably kids need that.

 

[Hot Heart]

Prisoners

 

A solid thriller from the director of Sicario, Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 (among others, obviously). Certainly not his best, with a slightly too long runtime and some hokeyness in the mystery, but it's got enough to hold your attention and keep you guessing. Funnily enough, it almost feels like what Heavy Rain wishes it could have been.

 

Interesting parallel is that this stars David Dastmalchian who was Joker's henchman in TDK and whom Harvey Dent was willing to torture to find someone.

[Mr. GOH!]

Avengers Infinity War. It is a terrible stand alone movie,  actually,  but a really fun serial episode. Since I watched all the other movies in the MCU, I'll put it in the "good" category on this forum. More discussion in the MCU thread later. 

[deanb]

Avengers: Infinity War

Absolutely agree it's not a standalone film, but I'd hope that at this point a decade in people have twigged the MCU isn't an entirely standalone fare, and this one was very heavily about the culmination of the preceding films.

I'd say given how well it handles a large ensemble cast across half a dozen locales, and is a relatively long film without feeling it it stands up pretty damn well. It balances well (heh) the usual and expected MCU glibness and wit with the sombre gravity of the situation and scale of the challenge the teams face.

 

Pretty quotable film too. 

 

Also apart from MCU thread gotten a channel on Discord too for more real time chat.

[Hot Heart]

Avengers: Infinity War

 

I have seen this twice (kinda unplanned but grateful) and while I don't think a second viewing is an eye-opener like with some films, you definitely take in a lot more. Firstly, I will highlight all the non-spoilery stuff first so when I do go into spoilersville, there will have been enough text that anyone using the New Content tab or whatever won't inadvertently see text that is behind spoiler tags.

 

Okay, so, it does a magnificent job of tying together so many different elements and keeping things zipping along. There are some really great scenes and setpieces, whether it's tight, moving dialogue or amazing-looking action. They make great use of the character interactions and histories and the way it's structured means it never becomes overcrowded. It also manages to throw in a few surprises helped by the old "shots in the trailer but not in the film" trick, even going so far as to fake things, which hides a running element of the story. I think there will be some interesting deleted scenes for a few characters that didn't get enough time and which were hinted at in the trailer.

 

I also think they did a really good job with Thanos. Besides being "tough", he has that dispassionate conviction that makes him truly dangerous. They don't humanise him, but explain his convictions; even if they are mad. I'm not sure if it was mo-cap or really good CGI, but his/Brolin's performance is really well done, too. Even during dialogue-heavy scenes, it keeps you engaged and you get the little touches that really sell it.

 

Also, it doesn't get gory or over-the-top but there are some real nasty bits of violence that surprised me.

 

That's probably enough text before spoilers, so...

The main issue I have with the film is that, despite the title change, this is absolutely a "Part One". This isn't about the serialised nature of the MCU but that this is two Acts of a Three-Act structure. This is the lowest point before the heroes find a way to triumph. It's not even like "The MCU's Empire Strikes Back" where it's somewhat bittersweet, even though it might leave you with similar feelings (and I guess you don't have to wait as long for a conclusion).

 

I mean, the most obvious element of this being a "one of two" is that they deliberately keep Tony and Steve separate. They wouldn't do a true finish without reuniting those two with the big ol' Avengers score playing (I'm still holding onto the idea that Tony gives Steve a shield).

 

It's a very weird proposition. In the same way that Civil War pitted "real-world" wisdom of unchecked power against genre wisdom of "Cap must be right", this throws in an ending that won't fool anyone with passing knowledge of Marvel Studios (or just the film industry) but will probably shock and distress younger viewers.

[deanb]

I'm not sure I'd say your section in the "spoiler" bit is a spoiler but here goes

I don't think it's ever been hidden that Avengers 3 and 4 were going to be a two-parter. Just that they figured they'd change the title. I'd feel probably for two reasons:

1. They have a better idea for a title for Avengers 4 than "Infinity War Part 2"

2. Probably some marketing research that says after the likes of Harry Potter, Hunger Games n what not that "Part 1 & Part 2" films are not as engaging or marketable or whatever

 

Now with the final part, I am having to figure if I'd be able to go see this for round two with my dad n co. My step-mum has concerns on the length for me 10year old bro, but I'm more concerned on that fact that without the grown up brain to understand out-of-film implications of financials, contracts, film techniques etc he'll leave it with nightmares for years to come.

As you said, it's not 'gory', but I'd say for a kid that doesn't process it as special effects and actors there's bits that might not go down so well.

 

[Mister Jack]

Avengers: Infinity War

 

Yeah, as it's been said before, it doesn't work as a standalone film, but it was never meant to be one.  If you haven't figured that out by now then you should just stop going to comic book movies entirely.  As the culmination of ten years of setup, however, it succeeds spectacularly.  While there are other films in the MCU that have stronger writing or characterization or dialogue, this one is still pretty strong, and in my opinion it has some of the best action set pieces in the entirety of the franchise.  You don't go to see the Avengers films because you expect them to be deep with something meaningful to say.  You go to Avengers films for balls to the wall action, and this film definitely delivers on that front.

 

Spoiler

Holy shit, that ending.  I didn't see it coming because I thought Marvel had backpedaled on splitting this up into two films.  Clearly they just decided not to tack on a "Part 1" at the end of the title, probably because they either didn't want to spoil the ending or because market research told them that movies that say part 1 in the title don't get as many butts in seats.  It was a smart move because I was fully expecting Thor to kill Thanos in the end, only to have the rug yanked out from under me.  I sincerely believe that the ending is going to be something people still talk about and remember many years from now, like when Darth Vader turned out to be Luke's father at the end of Empire Strikes Back.

 

[Hot Heart]

Room

From what little I knew about the film, I was expecting something more fantastical or possibly even sci-fi. How wrong I was. It's actually just a great straight-up drama with some brilliant performances from Brie Larson (I can see why she got the Oscar) and Jacob Tremblay; a child actor who actually has quite a lot to do and doesn't become annoying.

 

Logan Lucky

Not as full-on hi-larious as the trailers might have you believe, although, it's got lots of funny moments throughout. It's a decent mix of personal drama and breezy heist, with time for a little twist in the tale. The film even name checks Ocean's Eleven, calling this Ocean's 7-Eleven, to give you an idea of the overall approach (and probably also explains why Soderbergh was drawn to it).

 

It does have this hilarious semi-spoilery scene in, too.

 

[deanb]

Deadpool 2

 

It lacks the novelty of the first but does some new stuff due to not having to set up an origin. Some great quips and lines, probably a bit weaker than the first by virtue of kind of falling into some of the regular tropes in big explosions and such. Though it does have fun while doing it.

 

I am totally down with the current trend of faked trailer clips though.

 

Also I'm betting they're bummed they didn't get time allowance to put in some "I don't feel so good" joke. (though maybe they do have a few too...recent/topical jokes that I think will fall apart in years to come).

[Mister Jack]

Deadpool 2

 

God, this movie was hilarious.  It's been a while since I've seen the first so I can't say for sure which one is funnier, but if this one is less funny than the previous one then it's not by much.  There's a much better plot this time around, Josh Brolin as Cable has great chemistry with Deadpool, and there are a few surprises that the trailers were kind enough not to spoil.  Make sure you stick around to see the mid-credits scene!  It's one of the best parts!  There's no stinger at the end though, so you can leave after that.  I don't know what will become of this franchise after Disney buys Fox but I sure hope we get Deadpool 3.

 

[toxicitizen]

Annihilation.

 

Well, that was a pretty fantastic sci-fi horror. I'm super confused as to why they dumped it on Netflix everywhere but the US, though. I loved it but it's a pretty slow movie. Mainstream audiences that are only interested in shoving popcorn in their faces while watching loud CGI clusterfucks are going to be bored to tears by it. I mean, if you're going to pick and choose countries like that, the US seems like the last place you'd want to give a wide theatrical release to this kind of slow and intelligent movie.

 

I think I'll have to grab the book it was based on at some point. I'm curious to see how faithful of an adaptation it was and I'm pretty sure it bombed hard enough to guarantee the sequels will never get made. I feel like the movie stands well enough on its own, but knowing there's more makes me really curious to know how the rest of the trilogy plays out.

[toxicitizen]

Deadpool 2.

 

This is basically the best X-men movie yet lol. They made much better use of having access to that series than in the first one. There's a surprising amount of... well, surprises in it. I'm amazed I didn't get a single one spoiled. And yeah, that mid-credits scene is a thing of glory.

 

On 5/22/2018 at 5:22 PM, Mister Jack said:

I don't know what will become of this franchise after Disney buys Fox but I sure hope we get Deadpool 3.

 

I expect them to reboot the X-Men but I kinda want them to just drop Deadpool as is into the MCU. He already references them and DC all the time anyway. It would be perfect!

[Mister Jack]

My only problem with that is I'm afraid Disney would try to sanitize Deadpool into a family friendly PG-13 character if they did that, and what Fox has been doing with him so far is working pretty well already.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it, you know?

[toxicitizen]

Yeah, obviously I wouldn't want them to change anything. I don't know how hands-off they actually are with Marvel but I would hope that they're savvy enough to trust them with their own character and would just sit back while Marvel makes them another half billion or so.

[TheMightyEthan]

I don't know that they'd sanitize him for his own movies, but I think it would create issues in any crossover movies.

[Mister Jack]

@TheMightyEthan So far every single Marvel movie has been rated PG-13, but that's still generally seen as family entertainment and tons of kids go to see them.  Lots of kids see every one of these movies, and I feel like somebody at Disney might be worried about a controversy because Deadpool 3 turned out to be...well, Deadpool 3 and a bunch of clueless parents just saw it as another family Marvel movie and took their kids to see it.  Even if they don't, you still end up with a Marvel movie kids can't watch, which means it would be harder to work him into any crossover movies because now he's this character kids weren't allowed to watch so you can't reference too much of his continuity or you'll alienate a huge portion of your audience.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Mister Jack

[CorgiShinobi]

Since the first movie, Deadpool has been that adult-only hero that parents still try to justify taking their kids with them. Ultimately they still get upset at theaters or 20th Century Fox because now lil' Jeffrey has seen pegging when he was "only suppose to" see blood and bullets.

 

I could see Deadpool still working under Disney, but they'd definitely tone him down if he's making appearances in other films. I mean, the character was in an episode or two of a modern Spider-Man show that aired on Disney XD. That was a few years ago, so I also think kids get their "Deadpool fix" one way or another. He was also in that Avengers anime show for kids too, if I remember right.

[deanb]

Eh, I doubt any of the existing 20thCFox stuff will end up in MCU in any format, and X-Men would be Phase 5 at earliest I'd say (given Phase 4 is gearing up to be Skrulls, which might let them bring in Fantastic 4)