Topic: The Movie Thread

@jacobia @JohnnyShoulder @RR529 @RogerRoger Interestingly, I watched the new Star Wars trailer immediately (like an about an hour) following my re-viewing of Marvel’s Infinity War. (Yes I’m still trudging through the MCU, and I’m so close to the end now!) And I really think that seeing it in that frame of mind decreased my hype for Rise of Skywalker. After watching the frenetic pace, high octane action, and constant parade of endearing characters and complex and menacing villains, I was basking in the satisfying afterglow of Infinity War when I clicked on the trailer to watch it. So that’s how I ended up with the ‘meh’ response in comparison. I was surprised at my own emotional response (or lack thereof) when I saw Rey, Fin, Kylo Ren, and Poe. Do I really care about the plight of these characters as much as I thought I would? The tug to know how the heroes will win the day was not near as strong as my investment in the plight of the Avengers conflict versus Thanos. I could only describe my response as indifference. Shockingly, I felt very little by way of adrenaline surge until I heard Palpatine’s voice. A menacing and interesting villain is really what this new movie needs.

Now, don’t get me wrong— I will be there at the theater opening week most likely and probably dressed up in a costume (or at least a Star Wars T-shirt) and I’ll love the new movie, no doubt. But the shimmer is a little dull right now.

The new Star Wars trailer looked great, but then I always say that about Star Wars trailers. Whether the movie will be any good or not is another matter.

@Th3solution Infinity War was the final nail in the coffin for me going to the cinema. And it also blunted my interest in the MCU. I used to watch all the Marvel films in the cinema, now I'm more than happy to wait until they are available for home viewing.

@JohnnyShoulder Lol, what?! ...Ah well, to each their own. Admittedly it’s not Shakespeare or Hemingway, but I enjoyed it immensely, and even more on watching it again. I’m a sucker for testosterone fueled explosions and colorful eye candy sprinkled with shallow characterizations that feed on well worn tropes and baseless ideology, I suppose. 😄

@Th3solution I felt there was too much of everything, thought Brolin sounded bored doing the voice for Thanos and did not appreciate how Hulk was portayed in the film. I could go on, but yeah I didn't like it all.

@RogerRoger oh yeah, the Clonetroopers design is sweet. As far as Imperial troopers I’ve always been a fan of the Biker Scout getup, so I’d love to try that. Of course Boba Fett would be insanely awesome or better yet - Darth Maul, but that would be really hard to do. A random costume design that I would love is Boushh if I could pull it off.

@LN78 @RogerRoger
The Die Another Day count is more disturbing... Weirdo! ;-p

I've only seen three movies in theaters more than once: Space Jam, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Space Jam because... well, I was a stupid kid. Whaddya want?

South Park because I managed to trick both of my adult sisters into taking me. Neither of them realized how full of sex jokes it was. Haha. Joke's on them, because I was innocent enough at the time that I didn't understand half of the jokes anyway.

Bohemian Rhapsody because my family is obsessed with the film and it just sort of ended up happening when we went out to dinner one night.

@LN78 Ha! There's actually quite a lot I like about Die Another Day, unfortunately those things are quite heavily outweighed by most of what's on offer.

I've only ever seen the Brosnan and Craig films on their original cinema runs. Tomorrow Never Dies is the only one I went to more than once.

I did see Goldfinger at my local independent a few years back though. That was cool.

Don't recall seeing any film multiple times in the cinema. There maybe a couple, but I can't think of any. From recent memory the best I got is seeing Civil War a second time cos the screening I was in was audio descriptive. I only lasted 20 mins before walked out!

@RogerRoger There's a bit with Saddam Hussein and Satan that kind of mystified me. "What was Saddam Hussein shaking around in his hand in that one scene?" I wondered. Of course, I wanted to be mature, so I didn't even hint that my young brain wasn't fully processing the goings-on of the film.

Years later, I rewatched it, and the confusion cleared up.
"Oh. Ohhhhhhh. That's what that was."

It was a tiny moment of personal triumph.

@LN78 The problem is they are unintentionally funny and funny for the wrong reasons. At least with South Park it is setting out to be humorous.

I don’t go to the movie theater real often, usually only for a blockbuster release of my favorite franchises (a la Star Wars, MCU, Harry Potter, etc) and rent or stream most everything else. Some franchises it will be hit or miss, like Disney/Pixar will occasionally get a actual theater visit, but not very often lately. Then randomly I’ll go to see something in theater that is a stand alone show, usually it’s because friends or family cajole me. But the last such movie I remember doing that was A Quiet Place, which was great in the packed and dark theater. I’m pretty sure the impact of that film was very blunted to watch on the small screen at home with lights on, phone ringing, or people interrupting and pausing to get a snack or use the bathroom.
A lot of movies are just so much better in the theater on the big screen. The cost has become a little ridiculous though, so if the movie stinks, it’s easy to get buyers remorse for the $20-$40 wasted (depending on if you buy concessions). If you rent a show for $2-$4, then you don’t mind just abandoning it in the middle when it’s bad, like I did recently with Dark Phoenix.

I have friends who go to the theater every week and see just about every major release. It’s just their thing they like doing. For me, I don’t have unlimited time and money so I try to choose wisely. That ends up being about 5-6 trips to the cinema per year.

@RogerRoger For me there is some fun in seeing a show when the theater is packed and there is a palpable excitement crackling throughout the audience. I have to admit it intensifies the experience when there are 200 people cheering when the hero wins, laughing when a joke sticks the landing, and clapping when the show does something well. I’m sure it’s psychological and the same reason sit-coms use laugh tracks, but it works for me.

I was in a movie a couple years ago where the guy in the row behind me was snoring loudly throughout. That was annoying. The whole theater was giggling at it.

@Th3solution Do people really cheer at moments at the cinema in America then? I never known that here in the UK. That would seriously do my head in. Laughing and stuff at funny bits, I'm OK with. But generally and cheering or whooping or anything like that, then no thanks.

@JohnnyShoulder When I went to the 2014 Godzilla film, there was a pretty massive round of applause near the end when Godzilla finally used his atomic fire breath on an enemy MUTO.

There was shouting and hollering from a group of African-American men any time Black Panther showed up in Avengers: Endgame. Also, loud cheering from the audience when you-know-who used the gauntlet to snap things back to normal near the end.

At the end of Joker, half the theater stood up and applauded. I... uh... didn't.

But, usually, people are pretty quiet. And I see most films in theaters.

i normally wait for the DVD to come out, then i play it in my "Cinema Room", it's like my own private little cinema and it's nice and quite and not full of prats ruining it for everyone else

although i really wanna watch Doctor Sleep at Halloween although i could just watch The Shining again instead and wait

@JohnnyShoulder Yeah, like @Ralizah said, it’s not unheard of to have a whoop, holler or cheer during opening week when it’s packed. Later when the enthusiasts and hard core fans die down and the “normal” crowd goes, it’s less common to have audience reaction to be so animated. In fact, it’s downright rare to see it outside of the opening week or so. I personally have never seen a standing ovation for a movie, that’s a little odd. The standing ovation is a show of appreciation and respect to the performers and production crew of a well done show, usually during the closing bows — so when none of said performers are actually present to see the gesture, then what’s the point? Now if Joaquin Phoenix were actually in attendance at that particular theater the a standing ovation would be a very nice show of approval for him to see and take a bow for. But hey, if the audience is so emotionally impacted and spontaneously erupt in such applause, I guess there are worse things.

@Th3solution I forgot to mention Midsommar. That film has a pretty bizarre orgy sequence near the end that made the audience erupt into incredulous laughter.

But yeah, audience reactions aren't typical where I live in the U.S.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yep, I enjoyed his performance and character arc. It feels more integral to the plot than the last film.