Topic: The Movie Thread

@RogerRoger Ha, ha! No worries. Yes, Diggory is a side character who plays an integral role in the 4th book/movie. He’s a slightly sappy popular kid in the school — this heartthrob type of ‘student body president’ archetype who everyone adores. (Seeing a pattern here?) I never considered Bruce Wayne to be a heartthrob per se. A billionaire playboy, yes, but a pretty boy who seems to not incite any sort of heroic command of a scene? Eh, we’ll see.
(And don’t worry, I won’t judge you for being a Harry Potter avoider. The fan base can be a little annoying, but the story is quite clever. 😉)

I'd take Pattinson over Hoult. He has a good chin, he can brood - and not to put too fine a point on it, but Hoult just isn't 'handsome leading man' enough.

I'd still prefer Armie Hammer.

@Th3solution Read the first five books. That's why I recognised the name, and I remember his character and significance now. But I only watched the first three (maybe? I remember the first two and wanna say I saw the third, but couldn't tell you anything about it) films and by that time, I'd fallen away from the franchise. So I might've inadvertently seen him in something, then!

And hey, each to their own! There was just something about the fifth book which failed to grab me. Maybe the fact it was three times as thick as the previous four didn't help. It started to get too complex and drawn-out for me to enjoy (as you know, my threshold for fantasy witches and wizards is quite low). It was also around the time I stopped reading and started writing my own stories. In fact, aside from Jurassic Park, The Da Vinci Code and The Ghost whilst at university, I don't think I've read anything since. Oh, maybe a handful of Tom Clancy books.

Wow, tangent. Sorry!

How's Pattison's acting? Never watched any of his films apart from little bit of the first Twilight movie.

@WanderingBullet Reportedly, he's quite good. He'll forever be defined as "that Twilight guy" but he's taken some more serious roles of late and, if you believe the comment sections of a couple bat-sites reacting to the news, he's improved dramatically in recent years.

But that's all third-party stuff. I couldn't really say anything with authority.

@RogerRoger Good to know cause his acting wasn't really that good in the Twilight. Or maybe that was just how his character was supposed to be... lol

@RogerRoger [following on your tangent 😅] -
The fourth HP movie is where the films start to stray from the books a bit. They films continue to be pretty good, but the books are just too thick to include everything. The fourth book was my absolute favorite, so the film disappointed me somewhat. The fifth book and movie were the worst of the series in my opinion. Besides an obligatory major event for the entire HP arc occurring at the end, I didn’t care for the story of The Order is the Phoenix as much as the others. (But Gary Oldman is a great Sirius Black just as he is wonderful at Commissioner Gordon) Things really get back to a better quality story-wise with the 6th and 7th book. It can be complex with the way Rowling wove a tapestry of characters and events together which link the first books and the last books into one large tale. She really relies on a person knowing and remembering all the little plot and character points to get the full impact. Anyways... since I’ve been in a rewatching mood (Did The Dark Knight recently, in the midst of a rewatch of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and plan to do all the MCU movies in story order later this summer..) maybe I’ll rewatch all the HP and see if they still hold up.

@WanderingBullet He was good in The Rover and Good Times I seem to remember, even if those films were a bit average.

@Th3solution Maybe I did see a later film, then. I kinda recall Gary Oldman being a crazy dude with long hair and a tendency to shout at the drop of a sorting hat. Hmm.

Despite your best efforts, you haven't sold me on reading the rest of the series. Nice try, though!

If your eyeballs haven't melted out of their sockets after you've watched all thirty-something Marvel films, it'll be interesting to see if your opinion of the Potter films (and franchise in general) has held up. It always struck me as something I naturally grew out of, despite my earlier reasons in my tangent. I'm no stranger to a fanbase with a bad reputation (Sonic, Star Trek, Star Wars, etc.) so I don't dismiss grown-up, well-reasoned support of it all. Let us know what you think!

@WanderingBullet I'm not familiar with Justice Smith's previous work, but I thought he did a bang up job here. Guy has real talent.

@JohnnyShoulder I see... I just read people saying the samething about him in Good Times.

@Ralizah I've seen him in Jurassic World and The Get Down. Not a big fan to be honest.

So: John Wick Chapter 3. It's a lot of fun. I wasn't a huge fan of Chapter 2, which I felt wasn't sure what it wanted to be and had some boring action setpieces, but this film fully embraces the more cartoonish and camp aspects of the franchise. Any attempt at telling a serious story is firmly in the past now, and what we're left with is a charmingly self-aware and ultra-violent action spectacle. And boy, what a spectacle! It gets ridiculous enough that I was reminded of Kill Bill vol. 1 at points. Everything is incredibly well-choreographed, of course. Loved the motorcycle stunts, increasingly improbable kills, the ninja battle, Halle Berry's death-squad of wall-climbing dogs, etc. The script also doubles down on the mythological and more fantastical aspects of the setting, which helps with the almost apocalyptic tone this film adopts at points.

I really appreciate the internal consistency of the action. So many action movies treat gun clips like they're limitless. I absolutely adore the awkward moments when combatants run out of bullets and race to see who can reload their guns the fastest. Or how much of an obstacle baddies clad from head-to-toe in bullet-proof armor really are for someone armed with non-armor piercing rounds.

Fair warning, though: this movie is darn violent. Moreso than previous films. There are a lot of kills that inspired shocked reactions from the audience I saw it with.

@Ralizah Cool.
I'll get to it at some point. I wasn't all that keen on Chapter 2 either (when compared to the first), so I'm in no rush to see 3.
I'm only prioritising seeing Rocketman and Godzilla over the next couple of weeks.

Pedant alert!
Also, most weapons in films like these will be loaded with magazines, not clips. Sorry, couldn't not say it.

@KALofKRYPTON You're probably right. I know next to nothing about guns beyond them being machines designed to propel sharp pieces of metal.

I have no real interest in Rocketman, but I'm incredibly excited about Godzilla. Everything I've heard makes it sound like a proper kaiju movie. Next movie of note for me is Brightburn.

PSA: Rocketman is excellent!

Hana-Bi (Amazon Prime Video) - 90's Japanese film about a police detective, Nishi (played by Takeshi Kitano), who, after a series of events throw his life into disarray, decides to throw everything away and make the most of things while he can. I really got into it, and say it now outranks Sonatine as my favorite Kitano film.

Weird Science (Amazon Prime Video) - 80's Teen Comedy that sees a couple of high school nerds that, while trying to create a female AI to practice interacting with women, somehow manage to create a real life bombshell beauty, who both listens to their every whim, while also having the power to alter reality itself. It's goofy 80's schlock (and of course the boys learn some self confidence & that people will like them for who they are by film's end), but I definitely enjoy these kinds of films from time to time, and like seeing what they were able to get away with, with a PG-13 rating at the time (it almost reminds me of a Shonen anime/manga, in the sense that it's definitely not a film aimed at adults, yet there is some sexual innuendo, and even a few very brief moments of female nudity, that you wouldn't get in a Hollywood film made today for the same demographic).

I'm between television shows at the moment, so the other day I watched Skyfall and later today, I'm either gonna watch SPECTRE or Aquaman… haven't decided which yet.

It's a good sign that Skyfall has me wanting to watch SPECTRE again, though. I'd been holding back on Daniel Craig's outings after my recent marathon of the previous twenty Bond films, but a big part of that delay was probably because I've seen Casino Royale a lot. I mean, a heck of a lot, and it's a long film that crucially feels long. When I sat down the other evening, I just thought "y'know what, I don't think I've got the energy for that" and so it also made sense to skip Quantum of Solace, given that it's a direct sequel. Personally, I don't have anything against either film. I know the latter gets blasted for being a rushed, over-directed mess but frankly, I feel that's a bum rap. It isn't quite as cohesive or as sensitive as Casino Royale, but it does the job.

Skyfall is on a whole other level, though. When I'm in the right mood for it, I adore this film (in the same kinda way that I can't just pop Batman V Superman in for a laugh, yet still find it a powerful, beautiful experience whenever my head's in the space to do so). The decision to split the story's focus and give equal weight to M's character is genius, especially when you've got Judi Dench in the role and it's her last hurrah (proving herself wrong when she says "I suppose it's too late to make a run for it"). Craig does a great job balancing the darker, more emotional aspects of playing a broken Bond whilst finally injecting a little humour into his interpretation of Double-Oh Seven, although there are one or two moments where a one-liner feels a little forced. But since the previous milestone anniversary film was the comparatively-childish, tongue-in-cheek and seemingly Haribo-fuelled Die Another Day, this 50th Anniversary celebration (and soft reboot) is wise to take things at a slower pace. There are fewer standout stunts, the action is more straightforward and raw, and people are given reaction shots that last long enough for their performance to shine.

It doesn't make you gasp like the spiral jump from The Man With The Golden Gun, or applaud like the Union Jack parachute from The Spy Who Loved Me, but it made me get all misty-eyed in a few places. It's a unique kind of Bond film, one that I really appreciate.

Although the presence of the Aston Martin DB5 still confuses the heck out of me.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters - 47 out of 100 on Metacritic currently.

Still going to watch it, though.

@RogerRoger Love Casino Royale, also quite like Quantum of Solace. That's where Craig's outings drop off for me though. Skyfall is better on latter viewings, but it's still not great. Spectre is plain awful though

@WanderingBullet Meta also has the 2014 film sat higher at 62/100. No follow up that's actually focused on the kaiju as opposed to the 8 minutes of Godzilla on screen from crap perspectives could be worse than that!
Also,it has Rodan - so I'm in regardless!

@KratosMD I've often wondered what I would think of the original trilogy getting a first viewing as an adult. You also have the benefit of coming to Star Wars in an era where the prequel trilogy are not the worst films in the franchise (that would be The Last Jedi). Also, don't forget to watch Rogue One (after Revenge of the Sith), it's excellent!

Also, just read that WB has a New Gods movie in development! I don't think I was aware of that... Colour me excited!