Topic: The Movie Thread

So as to not completely highjack this thread into a Star Wars only discussion, I will say I saw two movies recently:
Crazy Rich Asians and Incredibles 2.
CRA was actually better than I expected, but, in the end it was little more than the Cinderella story. Wouldn’t ever necessarily watch it again, but it wasn’t terrible.
Incredibles 2 was likewise predictable. It was a good bit of fun, but didn’t really offer anything that the first film didn’t, as far as character progression or fleshing our the world. It didn’t help that it was the third recent movie to play the “superheroes are bad and should be outlawed” card. That narrative piece is getting worn thin.

@Th3solution I also watched Insane Wealthy Orientals recently. It was... mediocre. Too much of the movie was just prosperity porn, showing off all the wasteful behaviors of this family. That might be captivating for the sort of people who watched Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, but I just kind of found it boorish. The main love interest, Nick, is a total non-entity: the sort of "perfect boyfriend" that mediocre chick flicks are replete with.

I did get a laugh out of that ending, though, when the main character is telling off the mother, talking about herself like she's some sort of ragamuffin bum when she's actually a privileged and well-off university professor. Imagine Pretty Woman if Julia Roberts was an upper-middle-class professional instead of a prostitute!

I saw Aquaman. It was awesome! The fight choreography and cinematography achieved the main goal of the movie very well - to make Aquaman cool. The plot was good, if a bit tried and true with the formula. It didn’t try to reinvent the wheel and didn’t need to. Overall I was very pleased and give it a strong 8/10.
I also feel like Dante and Aquaman would get along very well.

@RogerRoger So have you watched all the earlier Marvel movies, ie the three Iron Mans, the other two Thors, the three Captain Americas, Ant-Man, the first two Avengers ... etc, etc? Because if not, I’m sure that some of the humor and references fell a little flat due to lack of context. For example the intro of Peter Parker for the first time into the MCU was in CA: Civil War and explains a little about he and Tony Stark’s relationship. I seem to recall much of Ragnarok’s humor and plot being more meaningful given the goings on of the previous films.
I’m just curious. The entire MCU library is gargantuan at this point and very difficult for a newcomer to the series to get through all of it unless you have a spare 3-4 weeks with nothing to do. I think the filmmakers have tried to make each film somewhat accessible as a stand alone piece of enjoyment, but inevitably some plot lines build on one another by necessity. Although I’m sure your friend has gone above and beyond to try and explain and expose you to all the information that the crazy universe throws at you in the course of a gazillion movies.

@RogerRoger For all my fandom of the MCU (and I have seen them all and tend to see them all in the theater on release), I pretty much agree with you about Ragnarok, Black Panther, and Infinity War. Your feelings are pretty spot on with mine. The only variance would be Star-Lord. Yes, he definitely comes across as a “stereotypical smart-mouthed-yet-stupid fratboy” whose primary role in the MCU seems to be for comic relief, but the two Guardians movies do a pretty good job of developing his background as a somewhat fragile and vulnerable individual. Much of his backstory is actually quit heart wrenching and emotional, especially in the context of the overall goofiness of the Guardians movies and the MCU in general. Also, he, like Stark (and Bruce Wayne for that matter) has a more “Everyman” type character that I find perhaps more relatable. He doesn’t have flashy inherent superpowers, can’t fly or shoot lasers from his eyes, bring down lightening from the sky, or have superhuman strength, but uses his wit and technology to his advantage. Same applies for Ant-Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, ... among others. Also, Groot is almost reason enough to see the Guardians movies as well; Gotta love Groot. But if it’s just Chris Pratt that annoys you, or the slapstick nature of the MCU and recycled jokes, then you’ll proabably not find enough there to make it worth your time.

But further on Black Panther, I am totally with you on that one. For the highest grossing film of the franchise, it was rather pedestrian in my opinion. Just kind of “meh.” I was expecting to be blown away and it just didn’t do much and the storyline was clear from a mile away. Perhaps I need to watch it a second time. I actually enjoyed Ragnarok and Infinity War much more on a subsequent viewing.

It’s great fun reading your takes. Keep ‘em coming. Maybe rewatch the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter next and give us your impressions 😋

Not a film I'd usually go for, but I watched the Bros documentary, After The Screaming Stops, the other night, because a friend told me it was like Spinal Tap, only real. He was spot on (sample quote: "Rome wasn't built in a day. And that's true. But we don't have the time Rome had").

Although you're laughing at their David Brent-like buffoonery to begin with, you do end up rooting for the pair of them. They basically got too famous at an early age and it messed up their relationship with each other.

A strange recommendation maybe, but it's a very interesting watch. If you're in the UK, it's still on iplayer I think.

@Frigate Oh my god, I had NO idea that Denzel Washington was in his 60's! Talk about aging like fine wine. The man still looks incredibly good.

@RogerRoger Sounds great! I actually watched the original Indiana Jones movies (minus the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) not too long ago. And if you do end up giving GotG a try, be sure to let me know what you think. I honestly think you’d like the overall direction of the story, but I do feel like Chris Pratt will drive you crazy with his constant quips. So it has potential to crash and burn for you, but also has potential to be a pleasant surprise. If nothing else, the music is great.

And I totally agree with your social analytics and I hadn’t previously thought of Black Panther as a trailblazer for more African American hero films, but it makes sense that by playing it safe and more digestible to the populace it probably accomplishes more for diversity in the long run. It’s something that video games have done pretty well. Better than films I think in the way they just place minority representation as a natural part of the overall game.

@RogerRoger you mean Death on the Nile, it's out next year and yes i am a HUGE Poirot fan, they cast Gal Gadot as Linnet (also a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, speaking of Sherlock the 3rd film of that should also be out next year)

@RogerRoger Give Guardians a go if you get chance. Like you, I thought Ragnarok was one of the better ones, because it didn't take itself too seriously. It knew what it was - a superhero film whose job is to entertain. Guardians of the Galaxy has a similar vibe, and the second one is great too.

Starlord won't get any less annoying of course, but after watching Guardians, you'll at least get why he has built himself a wall of cockiness to hide behind.

Also, Yondu is my favourite Marvel character (speaking as one of those annoying people who has read absolutely no comics and whose only Marvel knowledge comes from the films). He rules.

Watched the latest Spiderman yesterday, fantastic, has to be the best of them all, I think it benefits from being animated.

I also watched Spiderman into the Spider Verse and thought it was a very good film Some heavy themes, some good characters and cracking animation. Well played.

@RogerRoger if you want to get into Sherlock the best series to watch is the series ITV did staring Jeremy Brett, they got through most of the stories about 40-45 of them it ran from 1984 to 1994 but sadly Brett became ill and was no longer able to play the part and he died later that year but he is according to many (myself included) the "Definitive" Sherlock Holmes

@RogerRoger

you should still give it a go better to watch and know than think and not

I have been watching a load of films recently. I'm going to run sight and sounds top 5 in the next month, Citizen Jane, Vertigo etc as I have never seen them. What I have watched recently;

12 Monkeys: Amazing film. One of the best of all time imo.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World: The cinematography and sound effects are fantastic. Level up.

Concussion: Based on a true story and great as well. Nigerian death specialist vs the Nfl. Fantastic David vs Goliath film.

Lego Movie: Everything is awesome. All 4 movies have been boss.

@themcnoisy I absolutely loved the Lego Movie! It made me smile throughout.

Watched Ready Player One last night. What a mess.

@mookysam Have you seen 12 Monkeys too? It's amazing. Very underrated imo.

Lego Movie is sooooo funny. Although I'm not so fond of the real life scenes, kind of ruins the flow of the film.

@themcnoisy Not seen that (or heard of it). What type of film is it?

The real-world stuff in Lego Movie was weird. It could've definitely done without it. Aside from that it was ace. I had "Everything is Awesome" stuck in my head for about a fortnight after watching it!

@Gremio108 Fell asleep watching it a few weeks ago. I couldn't get into it. 😂

@mookysam There was a point where it looked like it was going to get good. But oh boy, did it not get good.